Pioneer ELITE won't play subwoofer

[lovinthehd]

You might try a reset of the avr at this point.

ps nm see you've done that altho another couldn't hurt....

 

[M Code]

Okay, I disconnected while running as you said, touched the end of the RCA plug and did hear the noise in the subwoofer. Turned off the amp and sub, plugged back in and ... still no sound from the sub.

This confirms that the subwoofer is OK...
We have covered all of the bases to check. There is nothing else we can tell U what to do.. The unit must be defective. Frankly speaking we have sold, setup and installed > 1000 AVRs and never had 1 when the Subwoofer Out circuit was bad but anything is possible...

My last suggestion would be to pull the AVR out, disconnect all cables sources and loudspeakers, reread carefully all of the previously advised points. If still no subwoofer output, better take in to a repair center.

Just my $0.02...

 

[TLS Guy]

After reviewing this thread, I feel you have bad firmware. Ask Pioneer if it possible for you to reinstall the firmware. I doubt it is. You will likely have to send the unit to Pioneer and they will have to flash the BIOS and reload good firmware.

 

[pewternhrata]

What gets me is that the sub doesn't show up in the osd, my guess is firmware or somehow stuck in a pure or direct mode. I see it as typical to not display sub settings when an avr is in a direct mode. Do all channels produce sound?

 

[lovinthehd]

Try a soft reset (unplugging it for a while)? Might help...

 

[TLS Guy]

What gets me is that the sub doesn't show up in the osd, my guess is firmware or somehow stuck in a pure or direct mode. I see it as typical to not display sub settings when an avr is in a direct mode. Do all channels produce sound?

That is why I'm pretty much certain the firmware is corrupted. If Pioneer won't sort this out, I'm pretty sure you will be out of luck.

 

[pewternhrata]

That is why I'm pretty much certain the firmware is corrupted. If Pioneer won't sort this out, I'm pretty sure you will be out of luck.

Is it possible to reinstall yourself? I know some do updates from a disk via the cd input

 

[M Code]

These instructions for firmware updates were on the Pioneer support site..
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ephox/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/VSX-53_52_1121/Ver1_191_087_119_069/FW_Procedure_VSX52_53_1121.pdf

Just my $0.02...

 

[TLS Guy]

These instructions for firmware updates were on the Pioneer support site..
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ephox/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/VSX-53_52_1121/Ver1_191_087_119_069/FW_Procedure_VSX52_53_1121.pdf

Just my $0.02...

That is worth a shot. However I doubt an update will solve it. I suspect the current firmware will have to be removed and firmware added from scratch. He needs to talk to Pioneer.

 

[heem6]

Thanks to everyone for the responses and guidance! For some reason I wasn't getting notifications and have just seen the 2nd page of replies.

Looks like I have another project for this weekend. I am going to try to do the firmware update and see if that fixes the problem. If not, I called an authorized Pioneer repair shop and they have not run into this problem, either, but the bench fee is only $24.95, so that will be the next step if the firmware update is not successful.

My new sub is feeling very unwanted!

 

[heem6]

SUCCESS: A friend came over to take a look and I think it might have been stuck in Stereo mode. It kept reverting to that setting until we figured out that while doing the reset, pressing the System Setup at the end was not just a way to confirm the reset, it was really the last step in the process. And if you skipped that step, it didn't reset. Once it reset, putting it in one of the surround modes brought up Subwoofer in the Manual Speaker Settings and we switched it to ON and Bob's Your Uncle, there was the sub.

Thanks everyone for providing tons of useful advice that helped me understand this issue and resolve it.

 

[normrich44]

Thanks to all experts for your input!
I'm having a similar problem with my Pioneer Elite SC-68 not sending a signal to my (2) Sunfire HRS-10 subs. I have the AXD 7668 remote. Much appreciate any advice for connectivity. Getting so frustrated I may upgrade to the Pioneer Elite SC-LX704 receiver but hesitant if the same sub issues persist. Thank you!

 

[MR.MAGOO]

July 16-27, 2017, to get that problem solved, is that a world's record or something?