No signal to subwoofer?

[Lucid]

Quick sanity check:

You got the buzz when shorting out the RCA cable then the amp is working to some degree i.e. it's not a blown fuse in the sub. The next obvious thing is to check that there's actually a signal from the subwoofer out on the amp.

There's only one subwoofer socket on the RX-V367. Your audio source - if still the headphone jack on the laptop - should be supplying a full range audio signal (20Hz-20kHz) to the 'audio 1' analogue jacks of amp, and if you're hearing sound from the main speakers then that confirms that the connection is setup and working okay. You've definitely switched off any "Auto ON" signal sensing function on the sub, right? It's set to simple ON.

You've done the speaker configurations to include a sub, and for the main speakers to be set to small so that bass is being sent to the sub for the main channels as well as LFE. The amp is set to a mode that will direct bass to the sub. Short of borrowing another sub, you're a bit stuck now with what else to try given the existing settings and connections.

Time to think sideways.

There's an audio out connection on the 367. Before going any further...... TURN DOWN THE VOLUME ON THE SUB. This is important, because Audio Out has the potential to send what is in effect a full volume signal to the sub and it can't be controlled by any of the amp settings, and that includes the volume control.

In your case your source - the laptop - does have volume control of its headphone out, so you have a bit more control than say someone running with a CD player.

Switch all off and connect the sub lead to either the red or the white RCA socket of the Audio Out connection. It's the stereo pair immediately left of the subwoofer out socket. Make sure the sub's own volume control is set to minimum. Also turn down the volume to 50% on the laptop, then set some music playing.

Now switch on the sub and the amp. Select the input as Audio 1. The signal going in is replicated and passed to the Audio Out sockets. Gradually increase the subwoofer volume control. Do you get sound from the sub. Is it louder than before?

 

[cwhaley]

Thanks again for all of your help.

There is no 'auto on' switch on the sub -- only the switch to adjust polarity. Both of the two options offer the same output.

So, I did get sound out from the sub when I connected it to the 'audio out' jacks, but the sub had to be turned up to maximum and it wasn't particularly loud. Of course the sub only has one RCA/phono input so I tried both red and white at the receiver end -- in both cases the same level of sound was produced.

I think my net option is to try a different sub. I'll keep on the lookout for one but it'll be a post-Christmas thing now all the yearly present-buying has set me back!

 

[cwhaley]

Bit of a conclusion on this. I could never get the subwoofer to work so I abandoned trying to use it.

I now have two Celestion Ditton 15s as main speakers (ancient I know), plus two Cambridge Audio Aero 3s as surround sound and one Cambridge Audio SX-70 centre speaker.

Together they produce a very immersive listening experience. Need to get the Celestions on the wall and then set up the distancing and EQ.

 

[feynman]

Or, a quick and easy, or an alternative solution might be to do what I did. Buy a pair of Adam Audio T7V speakers.

These are semi-pro recording studio control room monitors and they have built in class D amplifiers - one per driver. They have ribbon tweeters and ported woofers, and their frequency response is 39Hz - 25 kHz !
I feed them line level audio from the headphone output of our (Samsung) TV, so volume and mute is controllable from the TV remote, and the TV selects other input sources, so sound from our PVR also routes through to the speakers.

These speakers are utterly awesome for their price ! They have very deep bass - we can now hear sounds a whole octave deeper and things like car doors slamming off camera that we never did before. They have great dynamics and their response is so flat that you don't have to have them loud to hear the bass. They have +/- 2dB level adjustments for each driver if you need it, and their phase performance is excellent too, so dialogue is in the centre of the sound stage, even though our speakers are spaced 3.2m apart.

Adam Audio make T8Vs as well, which go down to 33Hz. Physically, the T7Vs are 350mm tall x 210mm wide, so they don't get in the way or dominate the room visually - although they do dominate audibly !

We listen to "Sounds of the 70's" on Radio 2 through this set-up via Freeview, and it is amazing to effectively listen to the master tape on all that great music that we previously heard via vinyl and analogue radio. We can now clearly hear things like a triangle or even extra guitar parts on tracks we know well but had never heard those sorts of details before.

When I bought my T7Vs a couple of years ago, they were just £130 each - and that includes 2 very high quality amplifiers in each speaker. An absolute steal for the quality and performance, and you lose nothing in long speaker cables because you don't need any.

PMT in Bristol sell them, but there are agents around the country.

 

[cwhaley]

Absolutely -- the difference a good amp and speakers make to your listening experience can be incredible!

I'm really quite happy with the set up I have now, however. The Celestion speakers are incredible for their age (and also have the larger bass driver). With the Cambridge Audio surrounds and centre, I've found something I'm quite happy with. A sub would give the addition of an extra level of depth, but currently I'm pretty happy as it stands.

This is the set up I have now. The centre speaker sat above the two mains has been moved to the wall opposite.

 

[feynman]

A difficult space, acoustically, (although the non parallel ceiling will actually help reduce standing waves). And the speakers mounted against a wall and so high up, away from your ear line. Not ideal.

Obviously, you already have those speakers and a big old Amp, but If it was me, I would use T7Vs or T8Vs front left and right on stands either side of the screen, and some T5Vs in the corners behind your sofa. Or perhaps even a Bose set up with the tiny cube speakers if space is that restricted? You don't need a lot from the secondary peripheral speakers, just a hint to fool the brain into surround sound.

 

[cwhaley]

Space constraints mean the speakers have to be mounted on the wall, unfortunately. I do get your points however and in an ideal world the set up would be different, probably incorporating floor-standing speakers as you suggested. I'm still very happy with it.

I listen to a massive range of stuff (mainly '80s new wave and rock, acoustic, '60s pop, classical and Northern Soul). So far all have sounded better than anything I've had before. If we ever move one day (this is just an extension on the back of the house) I'll have a 'better' set up.

I don't have a screen by the way -- this is just a music experience. The redundant TV on the wall has gone.