# Goodwill special gone bad



## Guest (Jan 5, 2009)

Hi all! My first post.

I picked up a Boston Acoustic PV600 sub and a Yamaha RX-V595a receiver at the local Goodwill a week ago. Long story short the sub was working beautifully but would stop working intermittently. I thought it might be a problem with the amp but when hooked to a friends Denon I had the same problem. Short of the long is the plate amp is bad, it smoked when trying to figure out the problem. The driver seems to be fine as it doesn't make any scraping sounds when moving it manually and was working beautifully prior to the meltdown.

My question is this....and please bear with me as it's been a LONG time since I have played around with any AV stuff....should I send the plate amp off to BA and get it fixed? Or, should I install a new (cheaper, I'm poor right now) plate amp. 

I'm so far out of the loop right now I really have no clue as to the best route to take. The sub cost me $8.99 and the amp was $12.99....gotta love Goodwill in Naples Fl. Any advice would be appreciated as the sub when it was working totally transformed my system....I got a taste and liked it, I'm just really hurting financially right now.

As a side note, my buddy let me keep his Denon, the $12.99 Yamaha RX-V595a works great with no problem....could I use either to power the sub? The Denon is only set up to run 6-8 ohm ....the Yamaha can be set to run the mains at 4 ohm.....

Thank in advance for your help...

Lowsidr


----------



## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

Wow, that is the deal of the century.. I guess if I were in your shoes, I'd prowl the goodwill until another amp showed up. A new amp is going to be a lot more. and getting your current one fixed is probably even more expensive.

Also, I'm not convinced that you didn't ruin the driver. It's POSSIBLE that when the amp blew, it took the driver with it. Can't know unless you try hooking up a new amp.

Finally, I don't think there is a way to power your sub with either reciever you have.

Sorry, but unless you can find another amp at goodwill or a pawn shop, I think you're stuck.


----------



## Guest (Jan 5, 2009)

Hey Jacen,

Thanks for the reply. What would be the best way to see if the driver is still good?


----------



## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

have a spare amp hanging around?


----------



## SteveCallas (Apr 29, 2006)

Actually, you might have another option. Try using the Denon as your main receiver, and then run a cable from the subwoofer out of the Denon into one of the discrete 6 channel inputs on the Yamaha, let's say the Front Left input for instance. Now wire the driver up to the Front Left binding posts on the back of the Yamaha and run the Yamaha in 6 channel mode.

This should work. Don't know much much power you'll be able to feed the sub, and you'll have to figure out some way to run a wire direct to the subwoofer driver, bypassing the Boston amp, but you gotta take what you can get I guess.


----------



## Guest (Jan 5, 2009)

Receiver yes....amp, unfortunately no.


----------



## Guest (Jan 5, 2009)

Thanks for the idea Steve, very creative. I don't think i want to go that Frankenstein though, w/no crossover and underpowered I don't think the sub would sound too great. I might just need to sell some stuff on Ebay and buy a new plate amp. 

Speaking of Plate amps....anyone recommend one over the other? Can I use one that had more power than the original? Most importantly, how can I determine whether my driver is still good?


----------



## Guest (Jan 5, 2009)

Steve,

I just re-read your post, I was thinking that because the subs amp was dead that the sub would receive a full range signal....I missed the sub output part from the Denon to the Yamaha...oops, I also noticed that the BA's plate had an input that bypassed the subs crossover....I see what your getting at, I'm just a bit slow! Thanks, I will give it a try.

If the driver is bad it wont hurt the receiver will it?


----------



## brandonnash (Sep 11, 2006)

Lowsidr said:


> Thanks for the idea Steve, very creative. I don't think i want to go that Frankenstein though, w/no crossover and underpowered I don't think the sub would sound too great. I might just need to sell some stuff on Ebay and buy a new plate amp.
> 
> Speaking of Plate amps....anyone recommend one over the other? Can I use one that had more power than the original? Most importantly, how can I determine whether my driver is still good?



I'm running an 18" sub in with just a receiver right now. If your receiver is newer and has a sub or LFE out you can use it as the crossover for the sub. Just set up whatever crossover point you want in the receiver. Works for mine until I get a better amp. Still pretty loud.


----------



## random username (Feb 28, 2009)

another tool is a Harrison Labs "F mod" which is a passive (rca level) crossover


----------



## ampire (Nov 27, 2008)

Lowsidr said:


> Steve,
> 
> I just re-read your post, I was thinking that because the subs amp was dead that the sub would receive a full range signal....I missed the sub output part from the Denon to the Yamaha...oops, I also noticed that the BA's plate had an input that bypassed the subs crossover....I see what your getting at, I'm just a bit slow! Thanks, I will give it a try.
> 
> If the driver is bad it wont hurt the receiver will it?


it would hurt the receiver only if its rated impedence is low. test it with a multimeter but its probably 8 ohm. Below 8 ohm would hurt the receiver probably, however its tough to say because the receiver is used to driving several 8 ohm loads.


----------

