Velodyne DPL Subwoofer not working

[mhall_10]

I have a Velodyne DPL subwoofer connected to my Denon 3805. It is not putting out any sound and was functioning perfectly. The settings have not been changed. I have checked the power input, the cable connections, the 3805 settings and they are all as they are supposed to be. The crossover is set at 80 for the large speakers. I even tried to use the auto setup on the 3805 as it makes the speakers put out sound for a test and nothing happened for the subwoofer, but sound came out of the others.

This speaker has sat behind a chair with no damage and was never upside down or spilled on. The blue light is on the front that shows it is getting power. It is a 5/1 setup with the other 5 speakers being Mirage that are working great.

I have checked both manuals and cannot find an answer.

Any suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Seth=L]

Using a cd player, dvd player or any source, connect the sub to it directly using standard rca cables. Be sure the subwoofer's gain (volume) is all the way down. Then use the source to test if it will output anything at all. Slowly turn up the gain as not to risk damage to the subwoofer.

Post your findings.

 

[mhall_10]

I connected the red line of an RCA cable to the output of the SW connector of the Denon 2200 DVD player. The other end to the red input of the Velodyne spl 1000. It still did not work. I then disconnected the digital line from the dvd to the receiver/amp. There still was no sound or movement of the subwoofer.

Does that mean the subwoofer itself is fried?

 

[Sheep]

Your subwoofer isn't working because it doesn't exist.

You can choose from,

SPL
DPS
DLS
VRP

SheepStar

 

[mhall_10]

It is the SPL 1000.

 

[MACCA350]

Have you tried unplugging the sub from the wall for a bit. Sounds like you should take it in for a checkup.

cheers

 

[Seth=L]

Try connecting it again to the left or right output on the DVD player, not the SW out as it may not be on. Try again and let us know what you find, I would hate for you to spend money for someone to look at a piece of equipment that has no problems.

 

[j_garcia]

I'd say power cycle too, and if that doesn't fix it, your amp may have gone bye-bye. After the power cycle, I'd contact Velo, as they have pretty good customer support from what I understand. (they are local to me here...5 min from where I work)

 

[astrodon]

Have you checked the fuse? Most subs have a fuse that you can access from the outside. I blew a fuse in one of my subs a while back. I replaced it and the sub worked just fine afterwards.

Added in post: Oops! Didn't see the statement about the blue indicator light. If this is shining then it can't be the fuse.

 

[Seth=L]

If the unit has a light, as he says, then that means the main fuse is ok. There may be output phase protection fuses inside the sub that if blown the power indicator light may still come on.

 

[mhall_10]

I talked to Velodyne today. They were very helpful. He is "99.9%" sure that the power is out.

According to Velodyne, the subwoofer is undersized for the space. Since the listening/viewing room is open to the rest of the house, it essentially is displacing air in a fairly large two story home and has overworked itself. The doors need to be closed to the room when the subwoofer is on. The guys at Tweeter told me none of this when I bought the unit.

Oh well. I will send in the damaged part, get it fixed and will post the resolution.

Thanks so much for everyone's input!!!

 

[j_garcia]

The guys at Tweeter probably didn't ask you anything when they sold it to you...

 

[mhall_10]

The more I think about the answer, the less sense it makes. Maybe I am missing something here but why would it matter how much space the subwoofer is in as far as the workload of the power supply. It would obviously affect the sound, but should not affect the workload in a standard environment(see Boyle's law)

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/aboyle.html

By the logic proposed by Velodyne, as subwoofer placed outside would invariably fail and a subwoofer in a tiny box would require a minimal amount of power.

 

[MACCA350]

The more I think about the answer, the less sense it makes. Maybe I am missing something here but why would it matter how much space the subwoofer is in as far as the workload of the power supply. It would obviously affect the sound, but should not affect the workload in a standard environment(see Boyle's law)

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/aboyle.html

By the logic proposed by Velodyne, as subwoofer placed outside would invariably fail and a subwoofer in a tiny box would require a minimal amount of power.

What happens when you put too small a sub in a room too big? You crank it up to compensate, thats what affects the workload. Get a more appropriate sub for the room and you don't need to work it as hard for the same level of bass.

cheers

 

[j_garcia]

Velodyne is 1000% correct; they should know, subs are their business. Every room is different, and how the sub reacts to the shape and size makes a HUGE difference.

 

[johnnybravo1987]

I had a Velodyne VA1012X. After the warranty had expired I came home from work one day and it was just dead. Since the warranty was up, I decided to remove the amp section from the back and found the capacitors had blown up inside, and there had been an internal fire. The only thing that kept my house from burning up was the heavy foil insert they used. Anyway, I contacted Velodyne through my authorized retailer and they told me to send it back. They replaced the entire amp because they'd said they had had about 2% of their capacitors go bad (vendor problem). They did it for free! I agree...their customer service rocks!

 

[mhall_10]

Velodyne is fixing the amp even though it was 3 weeks past the 2 year warranty for no charge. Their service guy is going to put some sort of upgrade in it so that it does not happen again. So far, great service.

I still don't buy the argument that the space being bigger makes the subwoofer work harder. It makes no physical sense. If it is true, and I am missing something, could someone please explain why?

MACCA350 - I had the receiver subwoofer volume set at maximum +15, and the subwoofer volume at 5.5/10, but you are probably right. Velodyne said that because of the compact size of the unit, it has to work harder to produce the same low frequencies of a bigger unit. When it gets back, I am keeping it at the recommended 3.5, and lowering the crossover from 80 to 50-60.