Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions EP500 Power Consumption

Hi All, Recently picked up the M80's, VP150, QS8's, and the EP500 for our do-it-yourself home theater. I really love this system, it sounds fantastic and the EP500 really does the job.

I am concerned that this sub has no auto-off state, when not in use. I was told that while not in use it consumes little power, but I notice a bit of heat build-up near the control panel on the sub and I wonder just how much power it's using just sitting there.

Should I be turning off the subs after use? Do you turn off your sub or leave it on?

Has anyone measured the current or power draw when in use vs. not in use? I have a multi-meter and was curious to try this. Could I set the meter to AC current and measure accross the prongs of the power cord?

Thanks for your help!

In reply to:

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Could I set the meter to AC current and measure accross the prongs of the power cord?

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don't do this, you'll cause a bypass path around the sub, and also blow the fuse in the multimeter (more than likely). for conventional current measurements you have to put the ammeter in series with the circuit. now some companies make "clamp-on" ammmeters that you can hook up to your multimeter, but with the small(?) amount of current drawn by the sub when it not pushing air it might be too low to measure. you'd have to find one that would measure milliamps, i'd imagine. the other issue is that you'd be measuring both of the conductors (the goes-ins and the goes-outs, so to speak) so that would affect the reading. for the "ideal" measurement you'd have to seperate the AC cable conductors and make sure you don't nick the insulation. 120 VAC isn't the worst shock you can get, but isn't all that great either!