PC-Ultra: Just looking for some reassurance...

[RMarsh83]

SVS has one 16-46 b-stock left (after I took the other ), which is $900 shipped, saving you $500 relative to the shipped Ultra. Nice deal! Also, I don't know how you all are waiting until July for the new Ultra... my 16-46 shipped today and the wait is killing me!

So the 16-46 PC-Plus finally arrived (and what a beautiful work of audiophillic art it is!) and looks absolutely stunning in my corner. This will probably betray the fact that this is my first real subwoofer, but I don't seem to be able to get any sound out of the beast. I connected the sub-out (pre-amp) on my Yammy RX-V 2500 to the left low-level in via a regular 12' RCA cable, plugged everything in, turned it on, went into the GUI to set the crossover to 80Hz and the LFE to be sent to the sub only, turned the gain up to 9:00 (about 1/4 the way) and then! .... nothing. I've scrubbed through the manuals, tried auto-steup and can't get a lowly ruble out of the water-heater. Any ideas or suggestions? There must be something obvious I'm missing... I'm just hoping its not that b-stock SVS means DOA.

 

[GlocksRock]

dumb question, but did you turn the amp on the back of the sub on? If so, you may want to check the fuse to see if it's blown.

 

[Adam]

So the 16-46 PC-Plus finally arrived (and what a beautiful work of audiophillic art it is!) and looks absolutely stunning in my corner. This will probably betray the fact that this is my first real subwoofer, but I don't seem to be able to get any sound out of the beast. I connected the sub-out (pre-amp) on my Yammy RX-V 2500 to the left low-level in via a regular 12' RCA cable, plugged everything in, turned it on, went into the GUI to set the crossover to 80Hz and the LFE to be sent to the sub only, turned the gain up to 9:00 (about 1/4 the way) and then! .... nothing. I've scrubbed through the manuals, tried auto-steup and can't get a lowly ruble out of the water-heater. Any ideas or suggestions? There must be something obvious I'm missing... I'm just hoping its not that b-stock SVS means DOA.

First...congratulations! Man, oh man, I can't wait for mine now.

Some things to try:
1. GR has a good thing to check - make sure you turned the sub amp on.

2. The next thing that I'd look at is the speaker setting in the Yammy. If you have your speakers set to "large" (which you would have before without a sub), then it might not be sending anything to the sub unless you're watching a movie at a point that the LFE track has some content. Normal music won't have any LFE content (I think). Try setting the speakers to "small" and see what happens.

3. Also, check the cross-over frequency that is set on the sub...try turning that to the max value at first just to make sure that it's not set to only play stuff from 30 Hz (or whatever the lowest setting is) and lower.

 

[RMarsh83]

I did turn the amp on the sub on (always a good suggestion and not that dumb as I spent a good 10 minutes playing around with the sub with the sub amp off, haha), but haven't checked the fuse. That is a good point and I will check it as soon as I can leave my cubicle - although the power light does come on when I flip the switch. I already have the speakers set to small, and the crossover on the sub set to 80Hz (although there is an enable/disable switch right next to it that you are suposed to use to disable the crossover knob if you have a crossover setting in the receiver), so while good ideas it doesn't seem to solve the issue. I did notice that when I have the sub amp set to "auto on" that the little light stays red playing normal TV audio. That is supposed to indicate that there isn't enought signal to trip the sub on, but I set the crossover as high as 160Hz and also set the sub amp to regular "on" and still didn't get anything. Setting the crossover to 160Hz I did notice a substantial reduction in the lower frequencies on my paradigm fronts so I know there's at least some content there even in regular TV.

Once I get this thing working I know I'm gonna love it... and be even more envious of your PC-Ultra when it ships!

 

[Adam]

Looks like you're doing everything right. From what you've said, it seems like the sub...if it's working...isn't getting a signal (or at least a large enough signal to trigger the amp). Here's a few more things to consider:

1. If you haven't, check the output level for the sub on your Yammy and make sure that's it's not set really low (i.e. -10dB or something).

2. Make sure that the cable that you're using to connect the Yammy to the SVS isn't the problem. You could either try another cable or make sure that the one you're using is good.

3. Try connecting the cable into the right low-level (instead of the left) input on the sub. Shouldn't matter, but it's all about narrowing down the possible sources of the problem.

Good luck. I can't wait to read your impressions of that beast once it is awoken from its slumber.

 

[Warpdrv]

Some receivers on the speaker setting screen, have a (sub on, sub off) selection even though you set your speakers to small, you still have to make sure that setting is set to on... I know one of my receivers was that way, and it was frustrating... once I figured that out, I could have kicked myself..

Just another thought, that Im sure you checked already....


Looking forward to your review.

 

[Adam]

RM, any word on your sub? Just wondering if it's roared to life, yet.

 

[RMarsh83]

Just got back from vacation this morning actually, haven't had a chance to tinker with it since the 15th. Going to try to work things out with tech support in the next few days, I'll definitely let you know how things go and what I think about it once it comes alive.

 

[abboudc]

Other things to check...

Check the speaker level of the sub. If the receiver set it to -10dB, that could be the problem. (oops, just saw adam already suggested this).

I'd run the YPAO again. It will set up the distances pretty accurately, but you'll need to override the settings for the front speaker size. If you don't hear the sub during the YPAO setup, you probably have a physical problem with either the sub, cable, or LFE jack...

 

[RMarsh83]

So far SVS tech support has been a little slow, only communicating by email which slows the turnaround time. The only phone number I've found is for sales, which while very helpful hasn't solved the problem. However, tech support has informed me that if the LED comes on the fuse is fine so that is not the issue.

Regarding your (abboudc's) kind suggestions:

1) The receiver has all speakers set to 0dB, which should keep them all level.
2) I'm not sure what the YPAO would do that hasn't been done already, the fronts are already set to small and speaker and distance is set to 8 feet, which is pretty accurate.
3) The cable is fine as I have used it to connect one of the outs on my dvd player to the receiver, which played fine.
4) I believe the LFE out is working fine as when the sub amp is on the auto on setting without the receiver on it is red, but switches to green when I turn the receiver on, (allegedly) indicating a signal.
5) All signs I've seen so far pointing to a problem with the sub, which may mean a long delay while waiting for return shipping...

P.S. - Nice Receiver!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

What a hassle; Reminds me why I only buy stuff from local dealers. That will be one bad sub when you get it to work though. Good luck.

 

[RMarsh83]

Thanks, looks like I might need it!

 

[Adam]

What a hassle; Reminds me why I only buy stuff from local dealers. That will be one bad sub when you get it to work though. Good luck.

That was one reason I bought my current sub from a local dealer...but it didn't work out how I hoped. The sub was defective in that it had a loud internal rattle even when playing softly. The dealer's first (second, third, ...) response was that they all do that. Long story short, they gave me the run-around for two years and then outright refused to do anything about it because they claimed that it was not defective. I finally realized that I could just contact the manufacturer, who immediately acknowledged that they had produced a lot of defective subs and that my serial number was part of that lot. Unfortunately, the manufacturer's response was to send me a B-Stock sub because it had been so long since I bought mine...but that one was from the same defective lot! In the end, I got a brand new working sub, but it took three years and a lot of hassles (including lugging a sub over 40 miles...twice...as opposed to the three blocks to the closest mailing center).

Call me an optimist, but I'm confident that SVS will be quicker than that. Good luck with getting your sub up and running!

 

[Ron Temple]

Make sure you are connected to Sub in, L or R, not Sub out. I did that myself when I first got mine...I'm sure you've played with it though.

 

[RMarsh83]

Got an email from SVS that they are shipping a new 16-46 PC+ tomorrow, and that UPS will pick up the defective sub at the same time. They definitely really care about their product, and have been very helpful. Can't wait to get the new one and see what it *actually* sounds like!

 

[RMarsh83]

Unless they labeled them backward, I think I got it right. I haven't tried the ports labeled sub out, maybe I'll do one last trial before they ship the new one tomorrow.

Also, there's no "pop" when I turn the sub amp on like you might expect. Can anyone else with an SVS cylinder tell me if they get the pop when turning the sub amp on?

 

[Warpdrv]

Also, there's no "pop" when I turn the sub amp on like you might expect. Can anyone else with an SVS cylinder tell me if they get the pop when turning the sub amp on?

I have never heard a pop from either one of my SVS subs...

 

[GlocksRock]

me either, the amps must have a soft turn on circuit.

 

[Adam]

Got an email from SVS that they are shipping a new 16-46 PC+ tomorrow, and that UPS will pick up the defective sub at the same time. They definitely really care about their product, and have been very helpful. Can't wait to get the new one and see what it *actually* sounds like!

Fantastic! I'm glad that it's all working out.

 

[RMarsh83]

Good to know. And a nice feature!