Rythmik Subwoofer flashing / blinking power light

[jimlucci]

I am curious if anyone else is experiencing an occasional (and sometimes more than occasional) flashing power light on their Rythmik Subwoofer? I was doing some room and speaker placement adjustments the other day and noticed something I had never noticed before – the power light on my Rythmik L12 was flashing/blinking sometimes. The original location of the L12 was between the 2 Towers and the power light was not easily visible from my listening position. The L12 settings were exactly as per Rythmik recommendations for music only (no HT). The volume dial in particular was never set past the 12 o'clock position. My research tells me (as did Rythmik) this is the limiter tripping. In an effort to stop this from happening, I set the volume on the L12 to a 9 o'clock position. While this had a mitigating effect on the flashing, I found a noticeable loss of lower frequency sound volume. When I set the volume on the L12 back up to 11 or 12 o'clock I am very happy with the sound I get, but the L12 flashes more frequently (especially on a bass heavy track or higher amplifier listening level). My foremost concern is damaging the L12. Has anyone else noticed their power light flashing (maybe at higher volumes or bass heavy tracks)?? It just seems odd to me that I would need to set the L12 to such a low volume setting to try and minimize this from happening.

Setup: (Sierra Tower w/RAAL, Rythmik L12, HK3490 120w, Schiit modi 3+, Amazon HD)

[rickm]

jimlucci,
I recently had a somewhat similar problem with my Rythmik F12. The power light in the back went out and no sound from the driver. I contacted Brian and he had me send in the amp. He sent very complete and comprehensive packing instructions, with a shipping label. He fixed the sub a shipped it back. I paid nothing. I can not say enough good things about Rythmik's customer service. When I was without the sub, I noticed how good my Towers sounded without the sub.
Rick

[jimlucci]

rickm,

After a little more research and a call to Rythmik, I think I may have fixed (or greatly reduced) my problem. In a nutshell – room acoustics/setup. I tried moving the L12 to the right of the towers towards a corner – meh, maybe a little better. Then I figured I would try the “subwoofer crawl” exercise. I was a little dubious at first, but it was remarkable the difference in sound I experienced in and around my listening area. There was a significant boost in low end sound in a corner of the room to the left of my listening position. I moved the L12 to that location and had to lower the volume setting on the L12 as the overall sound was now too bass forward. Repositioning the L12 and thereby lowering the volume setting, allowed me to get all the low end sound I wanted in a way that was the most efficient for the L12 to produce. This eliminated or greatly reduced the limiter being tripped.

When I decided to buy the Towers there was some debate in my mind (and on this forum) about whether a subwoofer was needed in the setup. After a little speaker repositioning, room tuning and running through the sub crawl exercise, I can say that the Towers really do sound incredible all by themselves. That said, I feel that there are certain music tracks that I play that benefit from the presence of the subwoofer. I can't speak for a Home Theater environment, but can imagine the subwoofer requirements might be greater for something like that. One thing that has become crystal clear in my mind is that room acoustics and setup matter....ALOT

[racrawford65]

Glad you were able to "fix" the issue, jimlucci. You are definitely correct that setup/speaker positioning/room greatly influence the overall presentation. Essentially a free tweak to better sound. If feasible in one's listening area, acoustic panels also help. GIK and other room treatment companies will typically give recommendations for free based on your inputs.

[jimlucci]

Thanks racrawford65! The only troubling thing with the whole exercise is that I had no idea that the limiter was tripping. I was not unhappy with the sound the way it was setup before, but the way it is setup now is as good (maybe better) AND I am not driving the sub as hard such that it trips the limiter. Not sure if I could have damaged the sub but limiters are there for a reason I am thinking.

I will definitely look into GIK and other room treatments. This was my first cut at room optimization. I may also play around with REW software and get some room readings just out of curiousity.

[racrawford65]

No worries, jimlucci. REW is a great tool although I still have a lot to learn about it's various tools.

[Mag_Neato]

There are many good REW tutorials on YouTube to get you going. Look for "Home theater Gurus" and "Home theater Gamer" for starters.

[racrawford65]

Good reminder, Ed. Yes, HT Gurus has some great tutorial videos. As I recall, episode 7 is particularly useful.

[jimlucci]

Thanks Ed! I have REW installed on my laptop, but I have not used it yet. I have done a little reading and have seen a few demo videos. I will definitely take a look at HT Gurus series. I will also look and see what GIK and some of the other companies have to offer in the way of room treatments. Interesting how much the room and system setup impacts the listening experience.

[racrawford65]

jimlucci -
I worked with John Dykstra at GIK. He was very helpful. You just don't want to over-do room treatments and "kill" the room.

FWIW, I started with a few treatments (Tri-trap corner bass traps in the front corners and a pair of 2x2 Monster traps w/ range limiter, 1 behind each sub). Later on, I added some 2x5 244 free-standing bass traps - 1 on each side wall near my Towers and 2 behind my entertainment center.

R

[jimlucci]

Thanks racrawford65!

How did those additions alter the sound spectrum for you? Did you see any changes in the REW metrics after adding that stuff? I have heard the difference in my sound just by doing crude changes/experiments in my speaker placements (as I outlined above). Just looking at the GIK site - they have some interesting products.

[racrawford65]

No worries, jimlucci.
Unfortunately, I didn't do before/after REW measurements. I did with Anthem ARC quick measure but don't have them saved. That said, my ears tell me that the bass sounded a bit crisper. I didn't hear anything different in the higher end (although wasn't expecting to as my room is open on one side & back, and the other side wall has bookcases, LP storage shelves, etc which help kill any reflections).