Reciever sub out problem...

[heatho]

I was wondering if any of you may be able to help me out with this one...

About a 2 months ago my sub woofer started acting funny... At normal bass levels it seemed to work fine, but when something hits hard (Like when Sauron's finger hits the ground in the begining of LOTR) it distorts... The sub looses it... or bottoms out or something. So, naturally I thought it was my sub and I took that in to the shop to get it checked out. Its fine... So the guy told me it might be my reciever. Last night I borrowed a friends (more powerfull) sub and it did the same thing. So I can only conclude that it is something with the reciever. Have any of you heard of this? What might it be? Sounds like I'm going to have to take the reciever in...

[57U]

Several comments.

1. It may be the cable - have you tried that? (I'm assuming you're using the "0.1" out of the receiver)

2. If you have a sub that allows you to wire the main speakers "through" the sub, then that may "work". You'll need to recallibrate your sub and set your main speakers to "large" on your receiver, so that the full signals goes through the sub to the mains. The sub will then "separate out" the low frequencies.

3. Check the settings on your receiver as far as crossover (low pass filter), speaker settings, etc. Something may be amiss there, perhaps even changing the settings and changing back will "fix" the problem.

Good Luck

[heatho]

Thanks 57U,

I have checked the cable... (I've used three different cables) so its not that.

Sub doesn't allow for main speakers through.

I have checked the settings on the reciever... Nothing seemed to be out of wack that I could tell. I messed around with them a bit and nothing seemed to change. I really hope that if I do take the reciever into the shop that it isn't just some setting that I missed... That would make me feel a little silly. :)

[Ratman]

heatho,
You never mention:
What kind of sub (size, power, placement)?
What receiver (power, bass management settings)?
What speakers for mains/surrounds?

MY initial guess would be that you may be overdriving the sub with loud scenes in some fashion.

If my assumption is correct, it could be either excessive 'cone excursion' (cone is 'thwacking' against the speaker coil) or the amp is unable to reproduce dynamic transients due to insufficient power (clipping).

Or... the guy who checked your sub doesn't have a clue.

[heatho]

It isn't the sub because when I borrowed my friends sub it did the same thing. I have one of those Sony Home Theater packages... HT5100 or something like that. the sub is a little 50W sub that sounds good when its working... But My friends sub was 120W. My bass level was/is set right in the middle at "0" and if the EQ is on its at 250. The problem happened both with the EQ on and off.

This only started happening about 2 months ago and I've had the equipment for about a year. Anyway, I'm going to take the reciever into the shop and see if they can fix it or replace it while its (barely) still under warranty.