Went on a spree........

[GoFastr]

Plug an RCA cable into the sub LFE (if it has LFE input). Use your finger to bridge (short) the tip and ring of the RCA cable and see if you get any hum.

You could have a bad subwoofer.

Good point. I'll have to give that a try at lunch too.

I don't even want to start thinking about sending this unit back under warranty. It's so hard for me to get it down here in the first place. The box looked ok and the packaging was all nice and in place with no styrofoam corners broken. Just looking at the outside, the unit looks superb and I can't see where it would have received any damage at all in shipping. Of course the internals are a totally different kettle of fish.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Thx. I didn't notice what it said on the Denon LCD. I'll look when I go home for lunch. At some time or another the XO was set to 80Hz, front and center speakers were set to Small, Sub set to Yes and on the PL-200 crossover set to Out but I can't remember how I left it because I was trying all kind of configurations to get it working. I just turned it off and unplugged it from the wall and unplugged the RCA cable before going to bed after midnight.

I think I remember setting the speakers back to Large because they sure sounded a lot better that way when watching TV.

That LCD is pretty useful.

The Left hand side of the LCD tells you the INPUT SIGNAL (2ch, 5.1ch, 7.1ch, DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, DD+, etc.).

The Right hand side tells you the OUTPUT SIGNAL (SW or no SW, 2ch, 5.1ch, 7.1ch).

On my 5308 & AVP-A1, if I set up as 2 subwoofers, 2 "SWs" will show up on the LCD. If I set up as 4 subwoofers, 4 "SWs" will show on the LCD.

So if the "SW" shows up on the right LCD, then the Denon is outputing the subwoofer signal.

If that does NOT work, try the HIGH-LEVEL INPUTS (wire connection). If this works, then either the RCA INPUT of the PL200 is not working or the SW OUTPUT of the Denon is not working.

 

[GoFastr]

After looking at the back panel on your 3311CI, you don't have a sub input. I thought that you had 5.1 or 7.1 inputs, but you don't. You have two sub outputs. The are both pre-outs, but for subs, that's what you want to use. You should be able to use either one.

There are three possibilities that come to mind:
- The receiver isn't outputting the sub signal
- The cable isn't transmitting the sub signal
- The sub is receiving the signal, but it isn't playing it

Double checking the connection on the back, setting your Denon menu up for a sub, and trying to play some test tones from the Denon can help troubleshoot the first one. (Check out page 81 of your manual for directions to manually output test tones from your Denon. You could cycle through and see if the sub outputs sound with those.) Inputting a signal directly from a source and bypassing the receiver is another way to troubleshoot this.

Swapping the cable helps to troubleshoot the second possibility.

Thx. This sounds interesting. I missed those tests on page 81. I was wondering if maybe my cable tv source was not capable of sending a signal for the sub. I switched to an HD channel, put in a Blu-Ray DVD and still nothing. Of course I can't remember what I had things set to during that fit of rage but I'm all calm again and can try your suggestions a bit later when I get home.

 

[3db]

Oh, she's was all excited when you say that it was a new sub*. She just didn't care about the box - after all, she'd been desensitized after months of Amazon deliveries.

* Not really.

*L* You're fortunate to have Amazon deliveries for realtively cheap. In teh subwoofer thread, I looked into the cost of the new Emotiva 12" sub for $629. Shippining to canda will add close to $200 dollars onto the price. I'm bummed man.

 

[GoFastr]

That LCD is pretty useful.

The Left hand side of the LCD tells you the INPUT SIGNAL (2ch, 5.1ch, 7.1ch, DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, DD+, etc.).

The Right hand side tells you the OUTPUT SIGNAL (SW or no SW, 2ch, 5.1ch, 7.1ch).

On my 5308 & AVP-A1, if I set up as 2 subwoofers, 2 "SWs" will show up on the LCD. If I set up as 4 subwoofers, 4 "SWs" will show on the LCD.

So if the "SW" shows up on the right LCD, then the Denon is outputing the subwoofer signal.

If that does NOT work, try the HIGH-LEVEL INPUTS (wire connection). If this works, then either the RCA INPUT of the PL200 is not working or the SW OUTPUT of the Denon is not working.

On the Denon LCD the left side shows FL and FR and the right side shows SW, FL and FR. On Denon FL, FR and Center are set to Small, Sub is set to Yes.

On Sub Crossover switch is set to Out. But nothing coming from sub yet.

Thought about trying the High Level Inputs wiring last night too in order to rule out the SW port not working. Have to try this later when I get home tonight.

 

[GoFastr]

After looking at the back panel on your 3311CI, you don't have a sub input. I thought that you had 5.1 or 7.1 inputs, but you don't. You have two sub outputs. The are both pre-outs, but for subs, that's what you want to use. You should be able to use either one.

There are three possibilities that come to mind:
- The receiver isn't outputting the sub signal
- The cable isn't transmitting the sub signal
- The sub is receiving the signal, but it isn't playing it

Double checking the connection on the back, setting your Denon menu up for a sub, and trying to play some test tones from the Denon can help troubleshoot the first one. (Check out page 81 of your manual for directions to manually output test tones from your Denon. You could cycle through and see if the sub outputs sound with those.) Inputting a signal directly from a source and bypassing the receiver is another way to troubleshoot this.

Swapping the cable helps to troubleshoot the second possibility.

Ok. I swapped over to the white plugs on the RCA cable instead of the red (will get a completely different cable later after work) . Doing the tone tests the FL is set to -6.5dB, the Center is set to -1.5dB, FR is set to -5.0dB and the Sub is set to 0.0dB. When I cycle through each speaker I hear the test tone ok except for nothing on the Sub.

 

[GoFastr]

Finally Fixed It

Well I finally got the sub fixed. Wednesday night was my tennis night so I got home too late to mess with it. Spent some time Thursday night on the suggestions from you guys and determined that my AVR settings seemed correct so it must be in the sub or internal amp somewhere.

I emailed Acoustic Sound Design where I purchased it from and within 10 mins they emailed me back the fix. Great customer service! Thanks a bunch Mike Embers, you da man.

I explained all what I had tried with my config settings on my AVR and he emailed me back basically one sentence which fixed it. He said 'sounds like one of the wires pulled off the speaker during shipping so go ahead and unscrew the amp from the back to open it up and plug the wire back on'.

Wha la, that was it.

I didn't want to go inside until I had contatced them in case I messed up the warranty or something. (Like I was going to go through the hassle to ship it back!)

I don't have it in the correct listening position yet but it thumps! I tried it with a couple of scenes from the blu-ray Dark Knight and it sounds awesome and really wakes the place up!

Thanks a bunch guys for your helpful tips so I could determine exactly what to eliminate and find out what was up with this. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong.

Here's some pics of the inside while I had it open so you can see the quality of the interior.

 

[Adam]

Awesome - I'm glad that you got it working! I had totally forgotten that it might be a loose wire. Good call waiting for them to okay you opening it up.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

That is totally awesome.

Glad it worked.

 

[kicknsupra]

nice setup good to see you got it working

 

[GoFastr]

Ok thanks to your all's suggestions, I think I've got things setup a lot better now. At least to me it sounds a lot better and is absolutely fantastic when watching blu-ray movies. It also sound great on my HD TV channels too. I need to probably update my CD collection as the ones I have are pretty scratched from going back and forth from my vehicles and lending them out.

Anyways, I turned up the gain on the sub to half way and that made a big difference. Here are a few pics of my new 3.1 setup.

 

[its phillip]

Looks good. The center speaker is far too low though

For your cds, you should just rip all the ones that are still in good condition (and try to rip the scratched ones and hope you have some luck), and just burn copies and use those for the car/lending to friends so you don't screw up your originals anymore.

 

[GoFastr]

Yeah the top shelf under the TV is glass and I had to move the AVR down to the bottom since it was bending under the weight. I could probably try and move things around again to see if I can put the center up there but I really wanted good ventilation for the top of AVR so I'm hoping I'll still have space. With those two things they basically split the height of that space pretty evenly with no room left over. I may be able to drill some new holes for the little pegs in between what is there now to accommodate it all.

Good point on lending CD's. Yeah, if I only knew then what I know now. Hind site is 20/20.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Your setup reminds me of my family room.

I have the Mitsubishi DLP sitting on top of a TV stand, flanked by 2 Infinity P362s on each side. My Denon 3310 & Wii game console are under the TV on the TV stand.

But on top of my TV is a shelf. If I wanted to, I could place a giant center speaker on top of this shelf, which would be right above the TV.

Have you thought about some kind of a "shelf" to place the center speaker centered above the TV?

 

[GoFastr]

Your setup reminds me of my family room.

I have the Mitsubishi DLP sitting on top of a TV stand, flanked by 2 Infinity P362s on each side. My Denon 3310 & Wii game console are under the TV on the TV stand.

But on top of my TV is a shelf. If I wanted to, I could place a giant center speaker on top of this shelf, which would be right above the TV.

Have you thought about some kind of a "shelf" to place the center speaker centered above the TV?

I guess I could look at setting up a shelf above the TV but being that it is a DLP it sits out quite aways from the wall. It would have to be a very deep shelf in order to bring the center out to the same distance as the fronts.

I had originally wanted a projecter but I can't make the room really dark during the day with all the doors and windows I have there. I was still hoping that I could find a projector at a good bargain and use it only at night and I would project the image into the space above the TV. (and still be able to watch another channel on the TV!)

I haven't gotten around to my final window treatments, area rug, wall hangings or art work yet either. I'm still toying with various ideas after just moving in so I appreciate all the suggestions.