Ultra 10 popping / sounds weird

[lvangundy]

Hello.

I ordered an Ultra 10 about 2 months ago and up until a week or 2 ago everything was fine.

Now it randomly pops (or at places in a song or show where there's something in the LFE range) and doesn't really play bass frequencies properly.

I'm living in a small apartment with close neighbors so I've never turned it up all the way. My receiver defaults to -35dB and I rarely have it up to -15 unless there's a scene in a movie that's hard to hear.

My receiver is a Denon AVR-789 connected by RCA. The crossover on the sub is disabled and the receiver crossover is set to 80hz. The Audyssey Dynamic volume is disabled. The volume knob on the sub is set at less than the halfway mark. The phase is set slightly to the left, I'm not looking at it so I can't say exactly what degree it's at. The point is it was working fine until about two weeks ago and I hadn't made any adjustments. The sub is plugged into a small APC power surge suppressor.

When I get home I'm going to try plugging an iPod directly into it and seeing if the bass is coming out.

Any ideas? I'm seeing some other threads where users are sending them back for warranty because the amp is not working properly. Should I just open a case and get an RMA ?

[FLcanuck]

I would at least try to check the cable connections or replace the cable you're using and see if that makes any difference. It could be something as simple as a loose connection.

I would also try the sub with another source to make sure it's not the pre-out out of the receiver.

[paintedklown]

I agree with FLcanuck, first check all of your cables. Make 100% sure that all connections are snug and that nothing is coming loose.

Failing that, I would try plugging the sub directly into the wall. I am not familiar with using surge protectors, so I cannot comment on any of them, but I am a big fan of just plugging straight to the wall.

If you are still having problems after that, then try hooking another source into the Emo sub, to see if perhaps that works.

If none of these work, then I would call Emotiva and see what they have to say.

Good luck.

[moovtune]

It sounds like you run your master volume fairly low on your receiver and the volume on your sub below the halfway mark. I would wonder how you get satisfying sub level unless perhaps the sub level control in your receiver is cranked pretty high. If it is, then perhaps you are overloading the sub's input whenever something substantial is in the LFE channel. Just another thing to check on.

[DYohn]

Disable the auto-turn-on and leave the power ON. See if it still pops.

[lvangundy]

Moovtune - the subwoofer level on the receiver config is set to -4dB.

DYohn - That is ringing a bell in the technical part of my brain. I "rebooted" the sub yesterday trying to figure out what was going on and the sub returned to normal operation but I'm wondering if it's been damaged from the prior popping/distortion.

For now it's working since I unplugged it. Is this a sign of a problem with the amp controller/brain? One of my favorite features is the Auto power on/off. Guess I'll live without it for a while and see what happens.

I tried hooking up an iPod to it yesterday (by 2.5mm to Y-RCA) but got all sorts of buzzing and a constant rumble so I just went back to the amp and then did the reboot..dunno what the iPod thing was about.

[lvangundy]

It did it again yesterday, just loud popping / distortion.

Had to unplug it to reset it.

[House]

Call SVS....they may have a good suggestion ;-)