timewaster

i have a 5.1 Atlantic Technology speakers.
Recently, my sub is starting to have this scratchy sound during the quiet moments of a movie.
The sug goes into standby mode (the light turns green to yellow) and i get this annoying scratchy/clicking sound.

when listening to music or during loud segments of the movie, the problem goes away.

Is there a way to fix this?
what is causing this? did my sub just go bad? ( i had it for 10 yrs)

Larry C.

It could be the ground, Sounds like a bad or partially unplugged audio cable on the sub's line-level input.

Alan Smithee

I have the subwoofer level on my receiver turned all the way up, so that the subwoofer is usually always getting some kind of signal. I have the actual sound level adjusted with the volume control on the subwoofer itself. The auto on/off thing is pretty annoying since I already have it plugged into an outlet on the receiver, so it turns off when it's not being used.

timewaster

so if it is blown or has a rip, is it worth trying to repair it or should i just buy a new one.

If i buy a new one, will any work? Or do i need to somehow match it with my other 5 speakers?

Larry C.

You don't have to match it. It receives a mono signal. It all depends on their policy but it could cost close to $100 to recone. Unless you know someone.

timewaster

i played around with this a bit more.
If i plug it into one of the 2 analog output of my dvd player. ( It only has 2 analog outputs. no 5.1 output). I don't get this noise.

But if i plug it back into the subwoofer output of my receiver it comes back.

I'm guessing it is the receiver?
Or is this not a valid test since the subwoofer output of my receiver is not the same as the analog output of my dvd player?

Spiky

The sub output is certainly not the same as the stereo output of the player. But that doesn't make it invalid to test that out. It suggests that the sub electronics are ok. Does it give you normal sound like that?

If you have the outputs: In the receiver setup, try switching your sub to OFF, and your front speakers to Large. Then plug the sub wire into the Front outputs instead of Sub. See what you get. **OR** A 2nd possibility, if your sub has the inputs, switch to speaker-level input to the sub. Not ideal since this means the receiver amp has to drive the sub, but it should tell you if it is the audio board in the receiver or the sub itself.

This is a bad idea if I'm understanding you. You should not have a sub of any sort plugged into the back of the receiver for power. CD player or other low power device is what those are for. Better to not use it at all.

What's wrong with the auto-on? Mine is silent, and I also have the receiver set high enough to flick it on fast, like you. So it's no bother here, at all.

parrotheads4

I don't want to send you down the wrong path, but...

This happened to me years ago. Luckily the sub company was great, and worked with me to solve the problem. After sending the sub back and forth to them it was determined that the sub was in perfect working order. The problem turned out to be my brand new THX certified receiver. The receiver was outputting interferance through the sub-out connection.