Cambridge Soundworks P500 Repair

[agabriel]

Hello,
I appear to have lost the fuse holder for an old Cambridge Soundworks P500 subwoofer during a move. That leads me to two questions:

1) Does anyone know which fuse holder the manufacturer sourced from? They had no answers for me - it was really disappointing...

2) If not, do you know how to get to the electronics on the bottom of the sub? I pulled the woofers out, but there is a wood barrier isolating me. I can't find any screws on the bottom and the case doesn't seem to want to pry open. With that said I didn't push overly hard for fear of inflicting more damage. If I can get in to it, I think it should be fairly easy to replace the fuse holder...

Thanks,
Anthony

 

[j_garcia]

A picture would help, as it may be a standard fuse holder. If not, chances are really good the amps are no longer in production and replacement of the entire amp is unlikely. Sounds like the amp is mounted from the inside during construction or glued into the cabinet.

 

[Rickster71]

I think it's this one:
0031.2510 - SCHURTER - FUSE HOLDER, PCB, SLOTTED, 5X20MM | Farnell UK

 

[agabriel]

I have attached a pic of the fuse holder. I'm going to try to find the part referenced, hopefully it is the correct one.



Thanks,
Anthony

 

[j_garcia]

Looks like the one Rickster posted is a good bet.

 

[agabriel]

Part is on order - I'll let you know if it works.

 

[agabriel]

Wasn't the correct part... A little to big on the internals. I think I'm going to need to figure out how to get access to the controller. Does anyone have thoughts on how to do that? Has anyone done that?

 

[slipperybidness]

perhaps one of these?
Fuse Holders in the Electronic Parts Department at Parts Express | 1423

Or, if you can take some accurate measurements then Mouser is a good resource that will almost certainly have the part.
Fuse Holder | Mouser

My other suggestion is rummage around thrift shops and garage sales until you find a piece of electronics that has the same holder and snatch that up for the fuse holder only.

 

[jordanholley3]

To get access to the amp on the P500 or P1000 remove the rubber pads on the bottom of the amp. You need a narrow philips head driver to remove the four screws and the amp comes off.

I am having problems with the control module. I am using a different 12v ac adapter. When I connect it the green light comes on but when you turn the volume up on the control module to any level it automatically retracts itself back to zero. Could the fact that I am using a different ac adapter be causing this???

 

[barkerdw]

If you are still working on this, I am abandoning the whole amplifier/controller section of my P500. You are welcome to any or all of it, including the fuse holder.

 

[tempustraveler]

If you are still working on this, I am abandoning the whole amplifier/controller section of my P500. You are welcome to any or all of it, including the fuse holder.

Hi there Barkerdw -- I'd be happy to take a shot at getting the amp/controller going for my son's set of speakers -- he doesn't have the controller. It's worth the longshot --- if you're willing, I can send you my email for details. Thanks. Dave

 

[Luiselmich]

To get access to the amp on the P500 or P1000 remove the rubber pads on the bottom of the amp. You need a narrow philips head driver to remove the four screws and the amp comes off.

I am having problems with the control module. I am using a different 12v ac adapter. When I connect it the green light comes on but when you turn the volume up on the control module to any level it automatically retracts itself back to zero. Could the fact that I am using a different ac adapter be causing this???

Did you find out if the 12v ac adapter was the problem?

 

[kpn]

Hi guys, I'm having a similar problem with my old Cambridge Soundworks P500 subwoofer. It gets power (blue light on), fuse looks good, bottom of case warms up, control module turns on with replacement power supply and turns green, though sometimes stays yellow when on "auto" setting. Marantz amp appears to be working fine, have monster sub cable from pre out to sub in on control module, phone cable works, tried with 3 different cables to be sure. Also tried different RCA cables to see if sub cable was bad. After all this, still no sound at all from P500 subwoofer. No hum, no buzz, nothing when I unplug one end and touch with my finger, nothing. Can anyone help please? One other thing, I did hook up various power supplies thinking they were the correct ones and this caused a red light to come on and a whirring noise in the control module. Maybe I fried the controller? Any help is welcome, including repair starting points. I can also connect directly to the amp using speaker wires, but I cannot find the old connector that came with sub to do this. Anyone know where I can source a new speaker wire connector for back of subwoofer? Thanks!

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi guys, I'm having a similar problem with my old Cambridge Soundworks P500 subwoofer. It gets power (blue light on), fuse looks good, bottom of case warms up, control module turns on with replacement power supply and turns green, though sometimes stays yellow when on "auto" setting. Marantz amp appears to be working fine, have monster sub cable from pre out to sub in on control module, phone cable works, tried with 3 different cables to be sure. Also tried different RCA cables to see if sub cable was bad. After all this, still no sound at all from P500 subwoofer. No hum, no buzz, nothing when I unplug one end and touch with my finger, nothing. Can anyone help please? One other thing, I did hook up various power supplies thinking they were the correct ones and this caused a red light to come on and a whirring noise in the control module. Maybe I fried the controller? Any help is welcome, including repair starting points. I can also connect directly to the amp using speaker wires, but I cannot find the old connector that came with sub to do this. Anyone know where I can source a new speaker wire connector for back of subwoofer? Thanks!

I'm not clear what you did, but you fried the amp. I have not heard of a sub that you could connect directly to the driver.

One thing I am sure of is that plate amp is not repairable. I note that sub is powered by a 500 watt Bash plate amp. I would order another to replace your fired plate amp.
The only other option is a new sub.

 

[j_garcia]

They've been out of business for a long time as I recall, so your choices are what TLS said. Alternative passive sub amp or a new sub. I'd go with a new sub.

This sub appears to have speaker level inputs, which is what he was referring to. That still doesn't matter since the amp is dead.

 

[kpn]

Thanks for the feedback, guys, pretty disappointing that this thing is dead but it has been about 20 years since I last used it. The caps are probably shot, who knows after this much time. It was stored in the basement, also. I was thinking that maybe the sub pre out on my Marantz receiver was faulty or that I fried the sub controller using the wrong power supplies (red light/whirring noise issue). I'm not knowledgeable enough to do repairs on something of this size and technical level by myself, if I were more skilled I'd try to repair it.

Anyone have suggestions on a quality, but value-oriented home theater subwoofer for a medium to large sized room? I've been out of this market for a while, and with all of the globalization/outsourcing, mergers & acquisitions, and Covid bankruptcies, not sure which companies are still in business and whether or not they're still making quality products. Martin Logan? JBL? Klipsch? Polk? Any reccos are welcome, thanks again!

 

[j_garcia]

What is the budget? There are still some pretty good budget subs out there. These guys seem to be impacted by supply chain slowness, but when they come back in stock, they're a sure bet.

The Speedwoofer 10S Subwoofer MKII - RSL Speakers

rslspeakers.com

For a larger room though, you will likely want a larger sub.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks for the feedback, guys, pretty disappointing that this thing is dead but it has been about 20 years since I last used it. The caps are probably shot, who knows after this much time. It was stored in the basement, also. I was thinking that maybe the sub pre out on my Marantz receiver was faulty or that I fried the sub controller using the wrong power supplies (red light/whirring noise issue). I'm not knowledgeable enough to do repairs on something of this size and technical level by myself, if I were more skilled I'd try to repair it.

Anyone have suggestions on a quality, but value-oriented home theater subwoofer for a medium to large sized room? I've been out of this market for a while, and with all of the globalization/outsourcing, mergers & acquisitions, and Covid bankruptcies, not sure which companies are still in business and whether or not they're still making quality products. Martin Logan? JBL? Klipsch? Polk? Any reccos are welcome, thanks again!

I'd probably not look at subs from ML, JBL, Klipsch or Polk....but rather from the likes of SVS, Hsu, Rythmik, Monolith, etc.....more those who specialize in subs rather than issue subs to match their speakers aesthetically (for the most part). That RSL Speedwoofer is one of the better performing ones for the price for sure, too (but rather have at least two).

 

[kpn]

I'd probably not look at subs from ML, JBL, Klipsch or Polk....but rather from the likes of SVS, Hsu, Rythmik, Monolith, etc.....more those who specialize in subs rather than issue subs to match their speakers aesthetically (for the most part). That RSL Speedwoofer is one of the better performing ones for the price for sure, too (but rather have at least two).

And this is exactly why I asked lol. Thank you for this guidance, makes sense to me. I signed up for presale updates on the RSL, thanks for that recco, also @j_garcia

 

[kpn]

What is the budget? There are still some pretty good budget subs out there. These guys seem to be impacted by supply chain slowness, but when they come back in stock, they're a sure bet.

The Speedwoofer 10S Subwoofer MKII - RSL Speakers

rslspeakers.com

For a larger room though, you will likely want a larger sub.

Thanks again for the RSL link, all signed up for presale updates and beginning research. For a larger room/larger sub, any specific recommendations as far as brand and size go? Value is key for me, more important than price, but not looking to bankrupt myself either. Cheers!