Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners 500 question / problem

I have a recurring problem with my 500. For whatever reason, and sporadically, it will not play. I assume it is in sleep mode and not waking up. I have been corresponding back and forth with JC. First solution was to switch from the input jack to the output jack. That caused some improvement but, inexplicably the problem returns. Next suggestion was to boost the volume by 3db. Again, some improvement but the problem persists. Last suggestion was to boost another 3db. I did that but the bass output is way overblown at that point.

I have a couple of questions for the group.

First, if the unit is in sleepmode, is the LED on the back still green? I check every time I detect that the sub is not playing and the light is green. If I turn it off and back on, the sub plays as it should.

Second, I set the volume to 75db to match the other speakers. I then bumped it to 78db to account for the instructions from JC. Being that I am fairly new to the hobby and at the risk of sounding dumb, am I doing what JC is suggesting? I have a Yamaha 663 and there are apparently several ways to increase the volume. There is a quick mode where I can, with the press of a button access the speakers and increase the level. THere is the calibration menu with the pink noise - I assume that I am doing the same thing there as I am with the quick button.

This is proving to be somewhat frustrating - it could be my ignorance in following instructions or it could be something else. I am open to any suggestions you guys may have.....Rob

Rob, I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Like you say, whether you are bumping up the dB levels during the pink noise test, or after the fact and adjusting that specific channel, you are doing the same thing.

I think some of the older EP500's had a "wake up" circuit, not sure the newer models have this...I know my 350's have a switch for "always on" or "wake up" modes.

How long have you had your 500? The point is that you should "not" have to keep bumping up the levels to make sure the sub stays on. 75dB's calibration is plenty to accomplish this.

When you say it will not play, are you saying when you start playing music or movies it drops out all of a sudden, or say after the next day of it working it is not working the next time you turn on the system?

If powering the sub off/on fixes the problem in the short term, it sounds like to me there is a problem with the amp.

My question would be the same. How old is the 500? My is always on there is no sleep mode. Mine is 2 years old.

Just out of curiosity, what do you have the crossover set at on your AVR and/or sub? It will not matter how much the volume is turned up on the sub since nothing will activate or start to be heard until bass response from whatever you are listening to is at or below the crossover setting.

Good point Casey! Obviously the crossover knob on the sub should on "bypass" (older versions), or cranked to the highest setting.

I received the Epic 60-500 system in May of 2009. As far as playing - I never notice it dropping out all of a sudden. It is more that I am watching TV - either cable or Blu Ray and I will see something that should have had some LFE. I then go to the sub and check and it is not playing. I turn it off and back on and...voila - we now have bass. I initially set the crossover knob on the sub to the highest setting - I will double check that one of the kids has not messed with it. Thanks for that suggestion. I am reasonably sure that it is still at the highest setting. The crossover on the Yamaha is set at 80. I intitially thought that the 25' Monoprice cable (purchased with the idea of doing the crawl) was the problem. I replaced it with a 6' cable and still have the problem.

As for the always on - I don't think that I have that option but I will check when I get home.

When I pumped up the output +6 or +8 db on the volume - the bass was so heavy as to be unlistenable.

Once you pump up the receiver setting you have drop the volume setting on the sub itself to keep things equal.

Actually, I had thought of that - but in keeping with my ignorance....I wasn't sure if I was cancelling out the effect that JC was trying to achieve? I am still not sure on that point - some of you are far more knowledgeable than me so I would defer to your experiences.

When you have the sub set at 75 db, what is the actual LFE channel in the receiver set at? I know with my SVS they stated to try not to have it below 1/4 of the range (mine for example goes from -12 to +12, so don't have it below -6) because sometimes this will not allow the sub to be triggered out of sleep mode. They say it is better to turn the sub itself down a touch and move the LFE level in the receiver to a more neutral position.

Worth a shot if you are in the lower end of the range.

The sub turns on when it gets an input signal. If the input signal is too weak to detect properly the sub won't turn on. So you can boost the input by turning up the sub level on the receiver. Though, as pointed out above, you'll need to turn down the volume on the sub to keep the over-all output level the same as before.

One thing I've noticed with my Sony sub: the turn-on level is higher than the minimum output level--it's possible for the sub to play a signal, once it is on, that wasn't loud enough to turn it on in the first place. That is, I can play some part of a passage without triggering the sub. But something louder comes along, and the sub now does power up. If I go back and play that previous part I will hear some output from the sub.

I probably should set my receiver somewhere between +1.5 and +3, but I fear if I'm ever listening higher than -10 dB that I might start clipping the output driver for the sub. (That fear is pretty unfounded though, as I don't listen any louder than -12 dB at the craziest of times, and if I was that hot, and there was LFE content which was mixed at -0 dB, I'd be diving for the remote, to cut things back).