Hsu vtf2 bottomed out and made a popping noise! Please Help!

[eddy13]

Ok I have tried the hsu demo disc and i have tried it on both max extension and maximum output. I plug the 1 port with max extension and unplug for max output. Offcourse I switch the switch in the back. In the demo disc on max extension and the sub set to volume level to abotu half to see how this sub sounds it does not bttom out but it vibrates my walls and on max output it does the same thing. Today I put the movie Matrix Reloaded and in the freeway seen when one of the agent smith jumps on top of a car and crushes it the bass gos real low and on max output the sub when it goes very low it makes a pop noise that i was like oh my god did the sub break. Now on the same volume when i put the sub on max extension and the volume about the same if not a tad higher the sub does not pop. I have tried this sene a million times on max output and it makes the popping sound every time. I know that I have to calibrate my sub with spl meter that way i dotn put the sub way to loud but I had a old infinity and that thing never i mean never popped once. How can this sub be popping. Does this mean that the sub is damaged. I have tried other senes and everythign seem fine but I do not want a sub that is going to pop every once and awhile i did pay 450 for a reason is this sub defective....

[eddy13]

guys i need all the imput from everyone on here. Is my sub broken or do subs when turned up to loud have a good chance of bottomling out and if it does does this mean that the sub got damaged..

[tdekany]

I'd bet that the sub is turned up too much. Try again at 1/3 and see if you get "enough" bass without bottoming. You should get a SPL meter. My STF3's volume - when set properly ended up barely above minimum and kicks A>S>S>!!
My STF2 is just above 1/3 with the receiver set -1.5bd and the bass rocks!!!!!!!!!!

I am positive that the sub is fine.

Keep us posted.

Thomas

[Retread]

Originally posted by eddy13
guys i need all the imput from everyone on here. Is my sub broken or do subs when turned up to loud have a good chance of bottomling out and if it does does this mean that the sub got damaged..

I have a VTF-3R set for max extension. I was running sweep tests at over 110 dB, high-to-low. There's a room resonance peak at about 32 Hz that pegged the SPL meter at about that frequency. My -3R "popped" and jumped several inches away from the corner. The -3R is heavy, so I concluded the SPL in that corner must have been something fierce!

I think you are pushing your sub to the point it is banging the stops.

[eddy13]

so your saying that the sub isnt damaged. So When a sub bottoms out does it mean that it was pushed to hard. So if i were to get any hsu vtf2 lets say like 7 and run the test in that scene that i was bottoming out in max extension would all 7 sub bottom out like the one that i have did. Actually i lowered the volume to about 35 percent on the sub in max output and i had the sub at about +1.0 decibals at my receiver and it bottomed out. Now after i put avia and calibrated my bass on the sub and offcourse i set it just a tad higher on the sub just to get some bass and not make it sound to thin and when i put it at max extension which is the only setting that didnt even bottom out when i had it cranked everythign was cool and with max extension the same but when i raise the volume in max extension it bottoms out in this scene. Why woudl it bottom out more often in max extension when i have it cranked than in max output. Also I would think that we would see more people compalining in the forums about bottomling out since I know alot of people like to crank there sub to see what its all about. I would appreciate soem of you answering the above questions that i asked. Especially about the one if i had abotu 7 different subs and ran the same cranked test in the scene would they all bottom out.

[eddy13]

by the way i had a old infinty and i always cranked that sucker even though it wasnt to loud it was plenty boomy and it shook my paintings at times and youknow what that thing never bottomed out. What i noticed that the hsu woofer is very springy it fires down at times alot that you say damn i hope this thing does not seperate it self from the frame.

I just want to make sure that when a sub bottoms out that this does not mean its broken or damaged...

[Retread]

Originally posted by eddy13
so your saying that the sub isnt damaged. So When a sub bottoms out does it mean that it was pushed to hard. So if i were to get any hsu vtf2 lets say like 7 and run the test in that scene that i was bottoming out in max extension would all 7 sub bottom out like the one that i have did. Actually i lowered the volume to about 35 percent on the sub in max output and i had the sub at about +1.0 decibals at my receiver and it bottomed out. Now after i put avia and calibrated my bass on the sub and offcourse i set it just a tad higher on the sub just to get some bass and not make it sound to thin and when i put it at max extension which is the only setting that didnt even bottom out when i had it cranked everythign was cool and with max extension the same but when i raise the volume in max extension it bottoms out in this scene. Why woudl it bottom out more often in max extension when i have it cranked than in max output. Also I would think that we would see more people compalining in the forums about bottomling out since I know alot of people like to crank there sub to see what its all about. I would appreciate soem of you answering the above questions that i asked. Especially about the one if i had abotu 7 different subs and ran the same cranked test in the scene would they all bottom out.

Yes, if a sub bottoms out it has been pushed too hard.

No guarantees on damage. Mine doesn't appear to be damaged, but it's not the kind of thing one would want to do often.

There is no such thing as identical items coming off a production line. So, strictly speaking, one couldn't expect that 7 different subs would bottom at exactly the same level. Probably fairly close.

There's a real problem with trying to judge sub loudness by ear. Or by the position of the knob. One just has to have instrumentation (e.g., SPL meter) to see how loud the sub is relative to the rest of the progam material.

Cone excursion is a function of both the SPL and the room size. If you have a large room and try to play loud with a small sub, you have to crank up the signal to the driver. Keep cranking it up, and you'll reach the limits of the driver. I had initially thought to buy a -2 sub and sent my room dimensions to Dr. Hsu (almost 40' long, by 15' wide, with 10' ceilings). Dr. Hsu recommended the -3, thinking the -2 might be too small.

Finally, it may be that more people haven't mentioned bottoming because they have enough headroom on the sub that their ears give out before the sub does. Again, that's a function of the power of the sub relative to the size of the room. On the other hand, it may be that increasing the power of the sub's amp results in it being more likely that the driver will be overdriven. Too many variables to come up with definitive answers without more concrete data.

[Mlee]

Eddy,

No worries, I went through the same experience with my sub, didn't even use the meter - couldn't understand the stuff anyway... what I wound up doing was setting my LFE lower on the receiver and keeping the volume on the sub around 1/3... Interestingly I found turning my bass down on the receiver gave me what appeared to be louder bass output. I still won't forget about how unnearving it was to hear the bottoming out sound, but you have to trust that these things are built well. Increase output by turning it down at the source would be my suggestion.

Have fun - I wouldn't trade my HSU for anything!

[eddy13]

wait what are you saying that i need to do. First of all should I leave it at max extension since it never really bottomed out when it was in max extension and you want me to lower it to 1/3 on the sub volume so where do you want me to lower it on the receiver. You said somethign like lfe where is this usally set at and where shoudl i set it at. Does one only change this level for dolby digital or what and by doing this does this mean that my sub will get louder but not lower..

[eddy13]

also why woudl my old infinty 12 ich driver that was cheap and i played that sucker loud how come that never bottomed out..

[Dudley]

Most likely the old sub was loud in the higher bass. The HSU being more flat would have to be turned way up to have the same upper bass as you are used to.

[eddy13]

t it seems like when its running in max output at about 40 percent of the sub volume and the sub level at 0 db it seems to me at least in that scene that the cars getting crushed goes pretty low at about 35 hz but it make s a big impact there and in max output the woofer probably works way to hard so it crashes against the stops and make a popping noise now in max extension it does not. Now tell me this if i calibrate my sub in max output according to my speaker and then again i calibrate my sub in max extension according to my speakers that means i will have 2 different settings for my sub since both options require different calibration levels since output is louder than extension.. so when playing that scene using both extension and output and adjusting according to which ever i use, shouldnt the bass from that scene sound idential in loudness. now if you leave the sub volume the same for both ...offcourse output will sound louder than extesnion. am i correct with my analogy.. Maybe the sub runs to hot in output mode and requries me to lower the levels a bit..

[Dudley]

Have you called HSU about this yet? Maybe there is a problem with the switch on the back of the sub that sets output or extention mode. If it is not working properly, then it might cause problems similar to yours.

BTW - if you set your sub level in max extention mode, and then swithch to max output the sub should be louder, but it should be no more likely to bottom out. If this is not the case for you, then I would think something is amis. Call!

[Retread]

Originally posted by Dudley
Have you called HSU about this yet? Maybe there is a problem with the switch on the back of the sub that sets output or extention mode. If it is not working properly, then it might cause problems similar to yours.

BTW - if you set your sub level in max extention mode, and then swithch to max output the sub should be louder, but it should be no more likely to bottom out. If this is not the case for you, then I would think something is amis. Call!

It seems to me that if it's "louder," then the sub is getting more cone excursion. If the sub is getting more cone excursion, then it is closer to bottoming.

A question about the old sub. Did it have its own amp, or was it driven by the main amp?

One more time. Perceived loudness is not a good guage. Also, none of the settings on the receiver or the sub mean anything. What matters is the sound pressure level being achieved in the room across the frequency range. In a big room, it takes more power, and more cone excursion, to produce the same sound pressure level that you would get in a smaller room with lower power and lower cone excursion. Finally, room resonances and holes affect the amount of power and cone excursion for a given sound pressure at a given frequency. Without measurement, it's just guessing.

[eddy13]

well its in a corner and the room is small about 15x15 and yes when i swith the swith in the back it does get louder...

[Sasha_G]

Need more bass? Here are some quick suggestions:

1) Open up both ports, and switch the VTF-2 to max output mode
2) Get a longer interconnect cable, and put the subwoofer next to your listening seat...preferably a corner near your seat that is far from openings to adjacent rooms.

I've heard of popping a few times in larger rooms, but to be honest your case surprises me. If you try the two steps above and you still get popping, email me at sales@hsuresearch.com and we'll get to the bottom of this together.

[eddy13]

why does my case surprise you I was actually running the sub anywhere from 16-20 db hotter than normal.. and it was in that one scene.. Actually when i lowered it to see where was the highest settign that i could get to in that scene without bottomlign out I believe that i got to 10-12 db hot. Actually now that i think of it when it bottomed out real hard it must of been over 20 hot. When i calledtech support they were surprised that it bottomed out in max output but not in max extension. I had asked for him to leave a message to dr hsu for him to call me back but he never did..

[tdekany]

why does my case surprise you I was actually running the sub anywhere from 16-20 db hotter than normal.. and it was in that one scene.. Actually when i lowered it to see where was the highest settign that i could get to in that scene without bottomlign out I believe that i got to 10-12 db hot. Actually now that i think of it when it bottomed out real hard it must of been over 20 hot. When i calledtech support they were surprised that it bottomed out in max output but not in max extension. I had asked for him to leave a message to dr hsu for him to call me back but he never did..

eddy - if a 150lbs guy punches you in the stomach on a regular bases and you can "take it" that is fine. But than having a true heavy weight hit you and you got hurt: wouldn't you see the reason why?
Running it 20db hotter - it must be also sounding like S.H.I.T :D :D

[eddy13]

well no more I ran it 20 db hotter during that scene and in bass heavy scenes to show off and see what this sub can do.. On a normal basis I run this sub about 6-8 db hot..... At 6 to 8 it doesnt sound to bad since the sub is aboutu 12 feet from my listening position if i put it to low I can still hear it but to my ears it sounds to weak for my taste. So running it at about 6-8 db hot sounds just fine and at least not yet it hasnt bottomed out runnign it this hot...