[Snyder81]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I posted, but here goes.


Last year I had some techno music up really loud on the weekend. I had an old Pioneer amp that was feeding a live signal(NOT line-out, but actually speaker wire) into the inputs(They are designed to accept line-level or speaker-level signals) of my JBl 15" Sub. Well, I turned it up louder and louder, and after a while I heard a popping noise. So I shut everything off and let the sub rest for the night.


At first everything seemed fine and I would occassionally hear a "pop" from the sub during quiet or loud playback. As time went on, the popping noise became more frequent. At this point, if I even turn the sub on(even if NOTHING is feeding it a signal to reproduce) it makes a continuous "pop-pop-pop-pop-pop" noise. A friend of mine who is an electrical engineer told me this is called "motorboating" and is often a problem with a diode(?) or transistor going bad in the power supply. Do you guys think this is the case? What do you think it will cost to repair the sub?


BTW, it is in the repair shop right now getting an estimate...I just want to know what is a reasonable estimate for repair. I hope the problem is simple to fix.

 

[gotapex]

Bad amp. It's a huge problem with the PSW-Dxxx line.

 

[kennet6565]

I had the same problem, they had a run of bad amp modules and if you speak nicely to JBL, they will replace them. I had my amp fixed at a repair station in CA suggested by JBL and it is fine, NOW. It gave great headaches before, but now I am back to great low ends. Contact JBL and be persistant. Good Luck

 

[Snyder81]

Thanks, after I get an estimate for repair, I think I will contact JBL and see if they will fix it. There is a repair place a couple of hours from where I live, so next time I'm up that way, I may just drop the speaker off. Thanks!

 

[exsilio]

Motorboating? Better not, you'll go blind!




Sorry, coudln't resist. What would Freud say?

 

[Mr. Hookup]

I just had to repair my PSW D115. Luckily, I have the service manual for it. Mine had a power supply problem, but these JBL's sure seem to be problamatic. I don't think I'll take any more chances on JBL again.

 

[Snyder81]

I wouldn't write JBL speakers off completely. I own their Studio Series S312's, S310's, and S-Center and I love them all. It's just the amp in my sub that had a problem. I'll be contacting them soon(when I find the time during the week) and hopefully they will fix my subwoofer free of cost or at least send me the part and a service manual. In fact, I like JBL so much that I just bought their NSP1 surround setup for my bedroom HT.


Got any tips on how to word my amp repair request? "Hi, I have read that you guys have quality control problems with your amplifiers in the PSW powered subwoofer line of products. Could you please fix mine free of charge even though it is out of warranty?"

 

[Snyder81]

Well, a couple of weeks ago my local electronics repair shop gave me an estimate of ~$200 and told me the main amp module was the culprit. I called JBL this afternoon and they said they would repair it and gave me an address and an authorization code to have it repaired free of cost. They just told me to take the amp out of the subwoofer enclosure, package it up, and ship it down to Cali. I'll be rumblin' again in a few weeks

 

[Snyder81]

For the record, I also just ordered a JBL NSP1 surround package for my room. I love JBL