Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Subwoofer Problem

I have a friend who is having an on-going Subwoofer Problem. He originally had a set of Polk HT speakers including a Sub that he bought 3-4 years ago. In Feb or March of this year, he started getting a "boom-boom" sound from his Sub. Since he bought the extend warranty from CC, he went through trouble-shoting. He took the Sub in to CC 3 times to be "fixed." The final time they agreed to replace his whole system including a new Sub with a Velodyne CHT-8.

He's had the new system for a couple of weeks. Now his new Sub has a "rumble" that lasts 1 or 2 seconds and repeats every 10-15 minutes.

He has a Home surge protector which was installed by the electric utility company. He also has the Sub plugged into a Monster Power HT 700 Power Center Surge Protector. He also gets the rumble when the speaker cables are disconnected from the Sub, but is powered on. He has plugged it into an outlet on a different circuit, but still gets the rumble.

It appears to me that a voltage drop or his "home circuit Protector" might be the culprit. Could a drop in voltage cause a "rumble" sound in a sub? Any suggestions?

Does the rumble happen when the sub is receiving a signal, when the source is off, or all the time?

The rumble occurs when it is powered on--even when the speaker cables are disconnected.

Does the "rumble" also occur when there is music or movies playing? If not, then the problem may be due to the auto-shutdown feature of the internal amplifier. Having said this, you should be talking to Velodyne. They make a good product and they should be available to help. Good luck.

Yes. It's on his list to contact Velodyne. But his problem started when he had a Polk Sub. He took that sub in 3 times for repair. One explanation he received was that his Amp in his Sub was broken. Then they replaced all of his speakers.

Now is a little different sound coming through his sub. It is a "rumble" instead of a "boom-boom". It happens during movies, music, even when the sub speaker cable is disconnected from the sub. It happens any time the sub is powered on. He's tried it on two different circuits.

I guess the the subwoofer itself could have a problem, but IMHO that would be remote...having 2 subs with the same problem. It would appear more likely to me to be a problem with the main electric service coming into the house. He has only plugged the sub in 2 different circuits. The only other thing I can think of is that something in the room may be sending a signal to the sub (portable phone, etc.).

Have him bring the sub to your house and try it. If it still happens, it's the sub.