Troubleshooting my lightly used VTF-3 MK II

[Canyonlands]

I bought my VTF-3 MK II in December of 2004. It has been lightly used but very well enjoyed while supplying the lows for occasional movies and subtle work below conversational level for dinner parties. It was a real disappointment to find that it wasn't functioning when I turned my system on while prepping for a Christmas dinner party for last night. It's been at least a few months since it was last turned on and no changes to the sound system have been made. I checked receiver, re-accomplishing the Audyssey setup and even went as far as to reconnect the VTF via pre-outs. Nothing worked. Lucky for me, my four mains are very capable of supplying a good deal of base on thier own, though what tower could really hold a candle to the lows of a true sub such as the HSU VTF-3?

My VTF-3 MK II gives me the green light in both auto and on but nothing is produced from it. There might be just a little (almost indiscernible) output with the volume turned all the way to the max. The setup is standard with the mains set to small, LFE+Main selected, and single coax connection. I ran through every possible change on the receiver end to try bringing the sub back to life for the party. In the end, I had to set my mains to large and leave the HSU quiet in the corner.

What will the likely fix be?


Thanks and Happy Holidays.

[Bill Mitchell]

You wrote that you re-did the Audyssey setup. Did you hear the Audyssey test tone from the sub during the setup? I would think, if the sub had not put anything out, Audyssey would have decided that no sub was present.

[Canyonlands]

You wrote that you re-did the Audyssey setup. Did you hear the Audyssey test tone from the sub during the setup? I would think, if the sub had not put anything out, Audyssey would have decided that no sub was present.


Good catch Bill. I thought I'd included that detail. During the Audyssey run through, the sub was putting out very little sound but just enough for the mic to catch. I actually had to run it twice because my furnace was running the first time and the mic couldn't make the sub out over the sound of the air blowing out of the heat registers (not loud at all). I shut the furnace off and ran Audyssey again and the receiver plussed the sub up to the max, which really didn't help.

[aboroth00]

My first guess is that some of the settings on the back could have been changed since it hasn't been in use. Such as the crossover settings, setting it in vs. out. Perhaps the cable run can be to blame? Which you can always test it by hooking an ipod up to it to try to get something out of it.

If you can't accomplish either, it's probably best you contact Hsu Tech support to try to figure out whether the issue lies with the amp or driver.

Good luck!

[Bill Mitchell]

It does seem as if there should have been more sound when the Audyssey whoop tones ran. When you wrote "with the volume turned all the way to the max", were you describing the volume control on the back of the sub? If that is at its maximum, you should certainly hear it being too loud. On the other hand, if it were giggled, by children, the dog or cat, the vacuum cleaner, that could explain the symptom.

[Canyonlands]

The settings were never changed from when the sub was working.

No children are in the home and there's no need to go behind the subwoofer for anything. That said, before my party I flicked every switch to the opposite throw and retried, just as a last ditch effort to have a complete sound system. As mentioned, my efforts included swapping out the interconnect.

Audyssey was accomplished in a proper manner with no ambient background noise. My Denon 3808Ci rolled the sub input all the way up to +12 with the volume knob on the VTF-3 maxed out and the sub is silent. With air blowing out of the vents (not loud by any means) Audyssey couldn't hear the VTF-3 at all.

Just for the sake of a fresh look at the situation, tonight I will rezero the entire system and try it one last time.

Cheers.

[Canyonlands]

The driver is firing, actually "firing" isn't a fitting term but with the channel plussed up to the max by my receiver and with the volume turned to the max on the VTF-3, playing the depth charge sequence of U-571, I can't hear it with my ear at all. The only way I know it's going is by feeling the edge of the driver.

:(

I'll see what the tech folks can do for it.

[supercoltsfan]

Your post could have been written by me. I just discovered last night that my lightly used VF3 MKII purchased almost exactly the same time yours was, was not working either. It also produces barely audible sound with an ipod hooked up and everything at max. Perhaps there is something that fails at the 5-6 yr mark...? :confused:

[Canyonlands]

Your post could have been written by me. I just discovered last night that my lightly used VF3 MKII purchased almost exactly the same time yours was, was not working either. It also produces barely audible sound with an ipod hooked up and everything at max. Perhaps there is something that fails at the 5-6 yr mark...? :confused:


I searched through the forums before starting this post. If what I'm experiencing was detailed and addressed in the threads I read, I wouldn't have posted here. I would have just e-mailed tech support instead. Given that I have not been able to solve this, and have not yet heard anything in response that would be a fix, I'll wait a few days to see if tech support responds here for the sake of anyone else with the problem.

This VTF-3 MK 2 is really mint condition, has been perfectly cared for and kept in an ideal environment. Only about 60 movies and 10-15 hours of music, never with the volume above the 10 o'clock position. This is less than a movie per month.

I hope we can bring it back to life because I'm just setting up our place to start a busy year of entertaining and the VTF-3 was magical when it was working.

[cawb79]

I need help also. My VTF3 MK3 stopped working. I watched a movie with a rocket taking off and the house was shaking beautifully. After the movie ended I went back and watched that scene one more time because it was so awesome. Directly after that we switched to music and then there was no more sub. I have unplugged it messed with the volume on the back of the sub and nothing. Could I have blown something?

Here is how everything was set during the entire movie. Volume on the back of the sub was only set at about the 8 o'clock position. Crossover frequency at 80HZ, Phase 0, Bass ext one port open(with only one port open), crossover set to out, and the volume on the receiver was modestly loud.

I don't feel like I was pushing anything to hard. Was I?


Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[cawb79]

So I started digging through my receiver manual and changed the sub setting from LFE to LFE+Main, and it works again. I don't know what happened because it has always just been set to LFE, but now that it is handling all the bass duties it is happy again. Hope this others.

[Bill Mitchell]

That sounds as if something changed in the receiver settings, such that the fronts became Large / full-range. This can happen inadvertently as many receivers keep separate settings for Stereo mode, so stereo could be one way while multichannel could be the other.

[Canyonlands]

Mine is still inoperative. I'm onto inquiring about service options.

[bghd]

Canyonlands,
So what was the result? Exact same problem for me. Cranked to max until my Pio receiver's test tones registered. In past, set to maybe 25% of max volume setting.

[fluffytoes]

Canyonlands,
So what was the result? Exact same problem for me. Cranked to max until my Pio receiver's test tones registered. In past, set to maybe 25% of max volume setting.
my problem is similar. i have an elite sc05, i ran mcacc and it did not detect subwoofer. i pulled the other end of the rca cable at the receiver and tapped it and got no response.. so i turned the volume up all the way on the sub and tapped the end of it again and barely got a response mostly a humming noise while i tapped it.. nothing like the response that i got from my functioning def tech prosub1000.

[bghd]

As tech support suspected, the amp needed repair. For a reasonable price, my VTF3 MKII is back in action.