[Adam Plocher]

Hello, I picked up a Harmon Kardon SB-16 wireless subwoofer from a Goodwill. I already have a Harmon Kardon TS-15 Wired Subwoofer for another receiver, which I really like and it looks identical and I (stupidly) assumed this SB-16 was the same. When I got home I realized the SB-16 is a wireless sub-woofer and typically would come included with a Harmon Kardon SB-16 Soundbar.

So my question is: is there anyway to get the SB-16 Subwoofer to work with a receiver - WITHOUT the accompanied soundbar? Perhaps some sort of transmitter device that hooks up to the preamp/subwoofer RCA jack on my receiver? Assuming HK isn't using some proprietary wireless standard...?

Thank you

-Adam

 

[Adam Plocher]

In case someone else runs into this question, here is the response from HK support:

We do apologize for the delayed response. We also appreciate the time on reaching this concern to us. However, the sub-woofer for the said unit only works with the soundbar. It doesn't have any option to connect it to the receiver at all. I know this unit is very important to you, but it will not work without it's soundbar. We highly recommend to return the item to the store where you purchase it.

Bummer

 

[Joshwhitkin]

Hey, I'm in the same boat. I got a sb 16 for free, can't find the subwoofer on eBay or anywhere.

Want to join forces and try to hack it? My idea is to open it up, find a "line out" trace that goes to the subwoofer transmitter, and solder a rca connector on it. Then scavenge a cheap subwoofer somewhere. Boom.

I would love a buddy on this project! Even if all you do is cheerlead and copy me if I succeed.

I'm in Sydney. Josh at Whitkin dot com if you're up for it.

 

[Elmojo]

Hey, I'm in the same boat. I got a sb 16 for free, can't find the subwoofer on eBay or anywhere.

Want to join forces and try to hack it? My idea is to open it up, find a "line out" trace that goes to the subwoofer transmitter, and solder a rca connector on it. Then scavenge a cheap subwoofer somewhere. Boom.

I would love a buddy on this project! Even if all you do is cheerlead and copy me if I succeed.

I'm in Sydney. Josh at Whitkin dot com if you're up for it.

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but I just picked up a HK SB16 sub with no sound bar myself. Did you ever make any progress in connecting it to anything?
I'm happy to collaborate on a hack if you still have yours and want to mess with it.

 

[Deaf-Forever]

Umm, hard wire it? Might require a few bucks in parts, but its free 100 dollar woofer, lets get crazy!

 

[Elmojo]

That's kinda my thought, but I'm not super good with tracing circuits and such. I am semi-handy with a soldering iron, I'll probably just need some help identifying where to put the heat.
I was just wondering if anyone had gone down this road before, and how it went.

 

[Elmojo]

So I decided to take a stab to starting this process. Any input greatly appreciated, since I'm already lost as soon as I started staring at the PCBs. lol
Anyway, I popped it open tonight, and got some good photos (I hope) if the internals. I can take shots of any specific angles if it will help.
I'm guessing that the wired connection, if possible, will need to be made somewhere on that board that also has the wireless module and antenna, since the other boards appear to be dedicated to power, control, amplification, etc...
I made up a simple lead with probes on the ends, and thought about hooking it up to a low-level input, like my phone, and touching various places with the sub powered up to see if I got any output, but that sounded like a very good way to fry my phone and/or the amp.

Is there a better way to determine where I might be able to tap in a wired input for this?
Photos attached for reference. The first couple are just for context. More available upon request.
Thanks!

 

[Deaf-Forever]

Well, you need to gut the wireless portion and try and decide what that portion output to the crossover/amplifier for a signal. The card with the antennae on it should be the wireless portion. It just received and then converted (if necessary) the signal and then sent it to the crossover. You can try inputting a signal from your AVR preout to the crossover directly. You might let the smoke out of your AVR however. Remember we are having fun with an unknown. Here's my recommendation. send a speaker level signal to the speaker from a source that has speaker level outputs. That way you can verify the speaker works. Since you don't know what kind of signal you're working with, toss all of it but the speaker and cabinet and go buy a plate amp from parts express. "Dayton Audio SA100 100W Subwoofer Plate Amplifier" from www.parts-express.com! Wire in and hope the woofer is really good under a load. Best case you are into it 100+ Goodwill costs plus your time and you get maybe a 100 dollar sub out of it. But you had fun doing it!

 

[Elmojo]

That's a good idea about testing the speaker separately, I'll give that a shot.
I'm sure replacing the plate amp would be far easier, but buying a $100 amp for a free sub that I don't really need seems sorta...counterproductive. lol
I'm gonna try to hunt down the input side of the this amp first, and if that fails, I'll just toss the everything but the bare sub and stick it in the "future projects" box.

 

[Elmojo]

Ok, update time!
I tested the driver with my phone and pocket bench amp, as suggested, and it works just fine. Thanks for that idea!
After poking around on the boards a bit more, I wasn't able to discover any obvious connection points, but another web search did turn up these nifty schematics!
Any of you electronics wizards able to ID a likely safe point to inject a low-level signal from these plans?
Thanks!
-Mike

 

[lidormen7]

Ok, update time!
I tested the driver with my phone and pocket bench amp, as suggested, and it works just fine. Thanks for that idea!
After poking around on the boards a bit more, I wasn't able to discover any obvious connection points, but another web search did turn up these nifty schematics!
Any of you electronics wizards able to ID a likely safe point to inject a low-level signal from these plans?
Thanks!
-Mike
View attachment 3031636 View attachment 3031637 View attachment 3031638 View attachment 3031639

Did you finally manage to connect the subwoofer to a device that is not the company's original soundbar? Because I have exactly the same problem

 

[Elmojo]

Nope. I never got any help with tracing out a way to inject audio into the path without ripping out the whole guts and just replacing it with another plate amp, which would defeat the whole purpose.
I did determine that there seems to be a trigger/relay that pulls it out of standby mode into "ON" status, but I haven't figured out yet if that's a simple voltage applied somewhere, or if it's a signal of some sort.
I still have it torn apart on my bench (among many other projects), but other things have captured my attention.
If you make any progress on yours, please share it here so we can all benefit.

 

[lidormen7]

Nope. I never got any help with tracing out a way to inject audio into the path without ripping out the whole guts and just replacing it with another plate amp, which would defeat the whole purpose.
I did determine that there seems to be a trigger/relay that pulls it out of standby mode into "ON" status, but I haven't figured out yet if that's a simple voltage applied somewhere, or if it's a signal of some sort.
I still have it torn apart on my bench (among many other projects), but other things have captured my attention.
If you make any progress on yours, please share it here so we can all benefit.

If its helps someone I talked with some peoples who repairing audio hardware and they say that it is possible to wierd the subwoofer but
I will have to take the sub to their shop and it will cost 50-75$

 

[Elmojo]

Nah, it's not worth that much to fix. It's only about $100 to buy a complete working set, including the sound bar.

 

[lidormen7]

If found a solution but because that my father destroyed the board i can't verify them so first you will have to cut the 3 middle cables in the picture the right one is right the left is left and the middle is ground
The second thing you need to do is:
Connecting the blue relay to the power supply the problem that i don't know how to do this so i cant do this . I didnt fully understand what he said in the 2 step so be careful

 

[Elmojo]

That's very helpful, I'll give it a try when I get a chance and let you know if I make progress. Thanks!

 

[lidormen7]

I found out how to do the last step just connect the 2 dots in the picture on this board

 

[Elmojo]

Nice!! I'll give it a try and report back.
Thanks for your help. I hope it works. Sorry to hear your board is fried.
Maybe you can use the driver for some project?

 

[Elmojo]

Unfortunately, bridging those pins did not kick the amp out of standby. The LED remains amber, not green.
I tried injecting an audio signal into the pins you noted earlier, to see if it required a signal, but that didn't do anything either.
Any other ideas?

 

[lidormen7]

Unfortunately, bridging those pins did not kick the amp out of standby. The LED remains amber, not green.
I tried injecting an audio signal into the pins you noted earlier, to see if it required a signal, but that didn't do anything either.
Any other ideas?

So first of all the led will remain red if I am not wrong and second I found out that he used a 3.5 mm cable so he basically made a speaker but i assume that is kinda the same