Sub not working, user error, bad sub or receiver...?

[WilL07]

Hi all, I am new to this stuff so please be nice, lol, thanks

I just bought a new Onkyo receiver TX-SR506, new JBL tower speakers and a JBL 10" sub. Model of the sub is vensub10.

Problem is I can't get the sub to come on with the auto on/off feature, and if I force it on and then turn it to auto it will go off after 10min, which I understand is normal if it's not receiving enough LFE signal. I have it hooked up using the single RCA cord that came with it, plugged into the Onkyo in the Sub Pre Out, then plugged into the back of sub in the LFE port.

When I play FM radio or use my Ipod the sub won't play at all. I went into the Onkyo settings and set the tower speakers to Small, then turned up the crossover to 100, then turned up the sub to 0db in the Onkyo receiver settings and still nothing works, turned the settings back to the way the auto setup had them and still no sound from sub. Now when I did the auto setup the Onkyo did recognize the sub, did all that testing noise etc.. I even made sure in the settings the Onkyo showed the Sub setting "On".

Now on to playing a movie. My DVD player is currently hooked up to the back of the TV, I am not using any of the pass through stuff on the receiver. DVD player is hooked up with Svideo and L/R RCA's. Then I have a Optical cord going from the TV into the Onkyo. Sound works but still no sub sound. Turned the setting on the DVD player to 2.1 Dolby and still nothing. Is this because I need to use a different audio setup from the DVD player to the TV? My DVD player has Digital Coax, no optical though.

With all this info do you think it's just my setup or is there a problem with the sub and or receiver? Is FM radio and Ipod supposed to kick on the sub, or only with audio sources x.1 etc..? If this is true then do I just need to hook up the DVD player differently, Dig Coax cable etc...? If I do it this way will there be a problem having the Dig Coax from the DVD player coming into the TV and then a Optical cable going out from the TV to the Onkyo?

I am really worried something is wrong with the receiver mostly, want to exchange it before 30 days if so. Just FYI, sub works all the time if I turn the power setting to "On" instead of "auto", but I shouldn't have to do this right...?

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

It sounds like you know your way around the menus and are adjusting the right parameters. The key statement to me was this one at the end:

Just FYI, sub works all the time if I turn the power setting to "On" instead of "auto...

If by "works" you mean that it's producing bass, then I'd say that the receiver isn't malfunctioning because that would mean that a signal is being sent to the sub. So, either that signal isn't high enough to switch on the auto-sensor in the sub, or the auto-sensor in the sub isn't working correctly.

I suggest that you try increasing the subwoofer output signal on the Onkyo higher. You said that you set it at 0dB. I suggest trying the highest possible level to start (and you'll want to turn down the volume on the sub itself to compensate), and see if that will trigger the auto-sensor. If so, then you could dial down that output level from the Onkyo until the auto-sensor isn't working. That would let you find out how high that setting needs to be to have the sub switch on by itself. If the highest output setting still doesn't trigger the sub, then the sub's auto-sensor might not be working.

 

[WilL07]

Thanks for the reply.

By "works" yes I do mean bass is being produced correctly.

I will try adjusting the output on the receiver as you suggested and see what happens.

So basically are you saying it should work on auto even with FM radio and my Ipod? Last question, lol, what do you suggest I do with my DVD player setup? Even when I turned on the sub to "On" and watched a movie during the scenes with lots of explotions and what not the bass never came out right and seperated to the sub, it sounded like I was listening to just a 2.0 or even mono type setup, the sub never hit hard with bass at all. Is this because I need a better setup from the DVD player, better cables etc...?

 

[Adam]

I would hook up the DVD player differently. Does the DVD player have a digital audio output (optical and/or coax)? If so, hook that up directly to the receiver. You will get much better sound that way. Right now, you are sending an analog signal to your TV that cannot pass Dolby Digital or DTS (which are both digitally encoded formats).

If you do hook it up that way, make sure that your DVD is set up to pass the "bitstream" audio out the digital connection, not "PCM". This recommendation would be different if you had a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player, but I'm assuming that you have a regular DVD player. You can set up the audio preferences (sending bitstream, for example) in the DVD player's menu.

Just let us know if you have any questions about that, or anything else.

 

[WilL07]

Ya the DVD player does have a digital coax audio output, no optical. I will try that as you suggested straight into the receiver. With that said though why I can't I just send the audio to the TV when I have a digital optical output on the TV going into the digital optical input in the receiver? You see, my TV does say Dolby Digital on it so why won't that work. Otherwise what is the point of the digital optical output on the back of the TV?

So in the end I would have the dig coax going from the DVD player into the coax in the TV. Then a optical going from the TV into the receiver, would this work properly or is there going to be some conflict?

 

[Adam]

If the TV has a digital coax audio input, then that would work unless the TV is unable to pass multichannel digital audio (some can't). If the TV doesn't have a digital coax audio input, and you're referring to the "Audio In" RCA jacks, then no - that won't work. You'd want to connect the DVD player digital audio output directly to one of the digital audio inputs on the receiver.

The reason that it isn't working with your current set up is that you are passing an analog signal from the DVD player to the TV. That signal cannot carry the digital multichannel encoded surround sound. So, even though your TV is passing a digital signal to your receiver, it is only able to pass along what it gets from the DVD player - which is not digital surround.

The point of having the digital audio output on the TV is so that the TV can pass digital audio from digital broadcast or digital cable signals. Also, if your TV has an HDMI input, then it could receiver digital audio from another source and then pass that along to your receiver.

 

[WilL07]

Ok, I see what you are saying, thanks. Much clearer now.

My TV does have the digital coax in, so I will hook the DVD player up to that and then keep the digital optical out from the TV to the receiver and see what happens. My TV is only a year old, 52" Panny LCD projection. It does have 2 HDMI inputs, so if I just upgrade my DVD player I could always go that route as well... I would think the TV can pass multichannel digital audio, it does say Dolby Digital on the TV...

Anyway, I did what you said and turned up the sub volume in the receiver all they way (+12db). I did this with the sub "on" and playing music, it got a lot louder so it seems as though the receiver is properly sending the signal. I then turned everything off, then turned the sub to "auto", turned everything back on and the sub never came on. I am using my ipod music by the way with a song with lots of bass! While the music was playing I turned on the sub to "on", it started working just fine. So then while it was playing I turned the sub to "auto" and it still worked fine. But after 10min of playing in the "auto" setting it shut off while the music was playing, and according to the JBL book this is what will happen if it's not recieving enough LFE signal. So what gives, you think it's the sub....? I have tried everything at this point. I am kicking myself because I bought everything online through J&R sound and am worried I will send back the sub to find out it was the receiver.

 

[Adam]

To me, it sure seems like it's the sub from your descriptions. The Onkyo is clearly sending a signal to the sub, and the sub works when you manually turn it on, but the auto-sensor just isn't getting it.

However, I would like to take a look at your owners manual just to make sure. What is the model number of your JBL sub? Thanks.

 

[WilL07]

It's the JBL Venue series SUB10, they also list it as VENSUB10. For whatever reason they have different names for it on the box etc..

 

[Adam]

It's the JBL Venue series SUB10, they also list it as VENSUB10. For whatever reason they have different names for it on the box etc..

Gotcha. I thought that might have been it and looked up the manual for that one. I didn't see anything in the manual that would explain this. You already stated that you connected to it using the LFE input, so the crossover setting on the sub wouldn't have anything to do with this.

I recommend that you contact J&R and tell them what is happening. I think that the sub's auto-detection circuit is faulty based on what you've said. If so, hopefully they will exchange it for you without any additional shipping charges.

Hopefully anyone who disagrees will chime in on this. Thanks.

 

[WilL07]

Thanks so much for the help man.

I will be calling them Monday and getting the return process going. Hopefully they don't give me crap and try and say it's supposed to work that way and or it's the receiver....you never know how knowledgeable these people really are about the products they sell.

As you said, please anyone else who disagrees chime in!

Thanks again Adam

 

[WilL07]

Update!

So I contacted JBL and they told me the Sub for sure is defective. They told me I could take it to a service center for repair or could return it to J&R where I purchased it. I called J&R and it's discontinued and they have no more in stock.

I decided to go with a different sub, from what the sales rep told me it's actually a better sub, the frequency response range and being a high current amp, here is the link if you want to check it out.

http://www.jr.com/onkyo/pe/ONK_SKW204/

Many thanks to Adam again for all the help