I have a 7.2 Epic 80 setup in my theater, and one of my EP500's has an odd crackle noise coming from it.

If I put on a test tone, it will rumble as it should, but it will randomly have a little bit of "background noise" which sounds like someone picking up a live mic off of a surface. sort of a crackle. It appears and goes away. I've done the standard driver test and the woofer seems like it isn't blown but I can't be sure.

I've tried swapping XLR cables (to make sure the cable is not at fault) and also made sure to try both the Sub1 and Sub2 outs on my pre-amp to make sure one wasn't sending a corrupted signal. Neither made a difference.

On any scene with low bass, the one sub in particular will randomly go into almost complete distortion. I'd normally say this means the woofer is blown but wanted to ask before I took action.

Any thoughts?

Have you unplugged it recently?

Side note. Damelon has one KILLER home theater. Makes mine look like a cardboard box. I've mentioned his theater here before since he uses Axiom gear.

Someone help this guy get his theater back to tip top audio performance!

For kicks, try using a non-XLR connection just to rule out the connection type/connection port.
Some ppl have had issues before with this, for whatever reasons.

You also might want to try and plug it into another outlet. You might be picking up RF interference from the 120AC. It's a bit of a long shot but it can account for the noise you are hearing but not for the distortion.

I can try that (changing outlets), but both subs are feeding from a surge protector on the same outlet, so why it would always happen to one sub and not the other not sure. Still, it's an easy test. If nothing else than to swap power cables on the subs.

Yes, I unplugged them several times yesterday and powered them down and up again.

I'm pretty sure XLR isn't the problem. I've been using those connectors for years on these subs. Not to mention I don't have an RCA cable that can reach. I could move the sub on the other side of the room I suppose.

I swapped XLRs at the source and destination, I changed what sub port from the AMP it uses (Sub1 to Sub2), I even took out the entire woofer cone and swapped it with the other sub. Sub1 is always the guilty party. Pretty much the only thing that hansn't changed is the amp itself. I'm almost positive that is at fault. Even if it's a loose wire or something, the fault seems to be residing in the detachable amp "piece".

Your best bet is probably to call Axiom. Hopefully one of them will see your post on the forums (I tried to get their attention for you), but you may bet a faster response if you call.

You know I considered using a different name here... see what happens? You found me!

As has been said, call Axiom. But I'm pretty sure I've read that they recommend not using surge suppressors.... though I don't think that would have any relation to your problem in either case.

And of course, try removing the powerstrip as well. Eliminate the easy stuff first.

And helluva theater you got there....

Sounds like the issue was with the amp.

Sorry damelon, but I'm posting part of what you put in your AVS thread just for some sort of update/closure here.



Bummer.

Not a problem. Of course it's totally my guess on the DSP part, but the fault is in the amp "Part". Will probably be a few weeks turnaround with round-trip shipping and stuff.