[Axel]

First off, I am not quite sure whether I should post this here in the speaker forum or if it belongs over in the AMP forum. Moderator, please feel free to move it, if needed. Thanks!



I have a Pinnacle Digital Sub 600 hooked up via the sub out to a Denon AVR3801 as part of my home theater. I have a problem with this setup when watching movies where not all the time things are getting blown up, people are yelling at each other, or loud background music with lots of base is being played. The sub falls back into a stand-by mode after some 15 min., but then gets triggered on again when detecting a signal above that trigger threshold. This is accompanied by a loud pop sound. This sound would be acceptable to me if it happened in the very beginning of the movie and only once, but gets pretty annoying when this happens several times throughout the movie – as it does right now. I have set the AVR so that the sub gets “main and LFB†signals. I also set the subwoofer level so that the AVR output is already fairly high. I could not set it any higher, as I had to lower the sub volume already to slightly above min. – otherwise the sub would be too loud. I have been touch with the Pinnacle tech support but they have been fairly slow with responses so far. We already tried a few things w/o success. They said it is impossible to lengthen the turn off timer to greater than 15’ without a drastic redesign on the sub’s preamp. They also suggested to adjust the input sensitivity of the sub.


This is actually my second Pinnacle Sub 600. Pinnacle exchanged my first one with one with a new amp design since the old one emitted a very noticeable humming noise in stand-by. But with the old one I never had any problems with this pop noise during a movie…. Now with the replacement unit this humming noise is gone, “traded†for a very annoying pop noise instead….. I almost wish I had not swapped the subs. But I thought that I could expect some high quality performance for a $1k item….


I start to wonder if there is something wrong with this sub, or my Denon, or whether I really have such a unique set-up (which I doubt)..


Any suggestions/comments?


Thanks!

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Axel

 

[dube]

bump.... i have the same problem different setup..

 

[Eternity]

I have the same problem. This is what I found doing a search.

***********

John F. Palacio

Senior Member


Registered: Jan 2002

Location: Los Angeles, CA.

Posts: 384

Check to make sure that there are no loose connections/intermittent cables in the signal path to the sub and check the power connection to the sub.


Have you installed any new appliances or any other electrical devices that could be introducing spikes on the power line or radiated?


Having checked all that the next suspect (and the most likely) would be the sub's amp or associated power supply.


Good luck.



__________________

Regards.


John P.

 

[Axel]

Dan;


Thanks for your reply. However, this pop noise is definitely not induced by power spikes from any other devices. In very simple terms: it is that the sub goes to sleep, since it does not get enough to do and then gets a wake up call which cause it to go back to duty with a loud pop (same as when it gets initially triggered...).

I wonder if there is simply something wrong with the sub, actually with the ways sensitivity and amplification were set at the factory... - is this possible??


_____

Axel

 

[Axel]

Quote:

Originally posted by dube bump.... i have the same problem different setup..

dube, what's your setup?

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Axel

 

[Axel]

Maybe I need to start with a very basic question: Is it normal that subs make a loud pop sound when woken up from stand-by?


Thanks!

______

Axel

 

[Sorny]

It is normal for some subs to pop when woken up from standby, yes.


You can get around this by cranking down the gain on the sub-amp, and cranking up the gain in the pre-pro. Of course, you should calibrate after doing this. If you haven't already, try using a Y-splitter on the LFE out of your receiver/pre-pro to the subwoofer to use both the L & R input. Sometimes this gives enough extra gain to keep the sub from shutting off.


Sorny

 

[Axel]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sorny It is normal for some subs to pop when woken up from standby, yes. You can get around this by cranking down the gain on the sub-amp, and cranking up the gain in the pre-pro. Of course, you should calibrate after doing this. If you haven't already, try using a Y-splitter on the LFE out of your receiver/pre-pro to the subwoofer to use both the L & R input. Sometimes this gives enough extra gain to keep the sub from shutting off. Sorny

Sorny;

Thanks for your reply.


I have the gain levels at sub and amp already adjusted as you suggested. I also have been using a Y-splitter.


Unfortunately this AVR 3801 does not allow to adjust the crossover freq. otherwise I would have increased it as well.


Hmmm, anything else I could do?


Thanks!

_____

Axel

 

[Sorny]

Well, you could try listening to things louder to keep the sub engaged.


If your sub has speaker level inputs, you could go the route of telling the receiver you have no sub, set the mains as large, and run the speaker wire to the sub, then have the sub high-pass the remaining L & R signal out to your mains and see if that works.


Other than that, I'm stumped (easy enough to do).


Sorny

 

[Iguana Man]

My sub (Velodyne SPL1200) occasionally would hum (just loud enough to hear from about 2-3 feet away). Now I know this is not the "pop" you refer to, but by unplugging the sub for 15 minutes, then plugging it back in resolved my issue. I wonder if this might work for your situation as well.

 

[Axel]

Thanks, guys!


I guess, I am left with only 2 options:

1. Pinnacle can mod the sub amp to increase its sensitivity

2. Deactivate this 15 min fall-into-stand-by mode and have it permanently on. I need to tinker with the electronic guts of the sub, though... I might need to get an external switch for the sub to make up for it...


I think, I like 1. a bit better...

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Axel

 

[Mit07]

Axel - you indicated that you have the sub set to get low frequencies from the mains plus LFE. Where do you have the AVR crossover set to - 80Hz or something else? Did you remember to either defeat the crossover in the sub or set the subs crossover as high as it would go - effectively making sure that the crossover in the AVR is being used and not both crossovers?


Are you getting good output from your sub? Did you check it with a test tone and SPL meter?


Don't settle for this problem - either get it resolved or get another sub.

 

[dube]

dube, what's your setup?

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Axel



i have a denon 3300 and a kef coda sub.

i think i found the the problem thanx to this form

a lose sub cable

 

[thebland]

WHy not leave it on all the time. Everytime you fire up that amp, you decrease it's life. It is more beneficial to leave it on, only turn it off for extended periods of inactivty. Obviously, the auto-turn doesn't work and despite what the manufacturer will do, it will never work.


My amplifiers in my system have pretty much been on for 7 years only turning off when out of town. It is O.K. to always leave them on and unhealthy to repeatedly turn them on and off.


Leave it permanently on and your problem is solved as there will be no more pops ever!

 

[Axel]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mit07 Axel - you indicated that you have the sub set to get low frequencies from the mains plus LFE. Where do you have the AVR crossover set to - 80Hz or something else? Did you remember to either defeat the crossover in the sub or set the subs crossover as high as it would go - effectively making sure that the crossover in the AVR is being used and not both crossovers? Are you getting good output from your sub? Did you check it with a test tone and SPL meter? Don't settle for this problem - either get it resolved or get another sub.

The AVR X-over freq. is set as 80Hz, unfortunately it is not adjustable (otherwise I would have set it higher). Also I have set the x-over by-pass switch to on.


I am getting lots of output from the sub.... Actually, way more that than I need. I have set the volume to only slightly above min. but still getting lots of oomph - any more and it would be way too much. I also used a SPL meter.


I wonder if there is something really wrong with the sub....


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Axel

 

[Axel]

Quote:

Originally posted by thebland WHy not leave it on all the time. Everytime you fire up that amp, you decrease it's life. It is more beneficial to leave it on, only turn it off for extended periods of inactivty. Obviously, the auto-turn doesn't work and despite what the manufacturer will do, it will never work. My amplifiers in my system have pretty much been on for 7 years only turning off when out of town. It is O.K. to always leave them on and unhealthy to repeatedly turn them on and off. Leave it permanently on and your problem is solved as there will be no more pops ever!

I'll keep this in mind as the last resort. However, I would still need to modify the sub so it stays permanently on. So far there is no way to simply disable this sleep feature...

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Axel