#13 - How to fix Cerwin Vega XLS-15s Active Subwoofer (erratic standby, no turn on)

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My 2014 subwoofer getting some repair attention. Sorry, it's a long how-to video but captures a bit of my problem solving with no schematic or service manual.
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[@Drewmikola]

Pulled mine apart (several years after the last repair) and found my amp board a bit crispy south of the rectifier and the leads off the transformer melted into a hard crunchy mess. This is a great video, even if my issue is a bit more "find a replacement" :)

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Ah crispy is no good, must have been running it hard aye? Hope you can find replacements without too much hassle.

[@togst]

Got one of these subwoofers that pop and crackle randomly (and sometimes loud.) It is only 6 years old or so. Started with inspecting for cracked solder joints. Found some, touched them up with the soldering iron, still the same problem. Went over all joints on all boards, still the same issue. The ChengX capacitors didn't provide much confidence, so replaced all with Panasonic caps. None were really bad when testing with an ESR-meter, but all were at the low end of the capacitance tolerance (assuming it is +/-20%.) Still pop and crackle randomly. Measuring DC on the speaker terminals, I find that is has about a 130mV offset, which isn't great. When the pops and crackles occur, it jumps around at several volt DC. Did some testing with an oscilloscope and found the input signal comes through the input board clean at least. Using a freeze spray, I found the DC offset would change if I sprayed the two TO-126 transistors (2SB649A and 2SD669A) in the middle of the amplifier board. I suspect these might cause the issue, but hard to tell. The parts are listed as obsolete, which is unfortunate. Hopefully I can find some suitable substitutes. Would be great to have a schematic/service manual at this point, but that doesn't appear to be available.

[@denniskrabbe1001]

Tak mester. Hat lige ordnet min egen takket være dig. 🙏😉👍

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Du er meget velkommen :)

[@vekteren3549]

@@xyzconceptsYT vent litt snakker du dansk?

[@xyzconceptsYT]

@@vekteren3549 Nei, egentlig er jeg ikke flytende norsk. Har du fikset abonnementene dine også?

[@vekteren3549]

@@xyzconceptsYT oh i see you used a translator no problem Yeah i subscribed don't worry

[@xyzconceptsYT]

@@vekteren3549 Haha, cheers for the sub, yeah I use a translator so there is no real language barrier anymore. Just don't ask me to verbally speak other languages. :)

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

Huge subs 👍🏻

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Yep they are awesome. Cheers for the sub. 😁

[@OscarSonyProfessional]

Hey my friend, can you help me? I have too XLS-15s but can’t fix help me please

[@xyzconceptsYT]

What seems to be the problem with yours?

[@Shanaigins]

Hi great video and tools with knowledgeable insight into the very same CV Sub I have. Thank you for sharing. I had a problem with my sub that had a amplifier hum while on the Amp was on but no LFE was being used like when I had a show on pause or a program playing but at low volume. I found the spade connectors at the subs were very loose and I found poor solder connections and bad caps on my output board. the problem is with my failing eyesight I bridged a few solder connections when a drop of solder came off my iron that went unnoticed until I fired up the sub and poof there goes my amp. At that point I was so pissed I just put it back together and left in the corner of my living room where it sits today mocking me and my piss poor eyesight. My question is what set up do you have for your video microscope? I cannot help but to think if I had done my repair with the aid of this tool I would still have a working sub. Thanks for any help.

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Hi Shanaigins, thanks for your positive comments :) My sincere condolences to your sub. Don't give up, give it it another shot when you feel you are ready. My video microscope setup is the Andonstar ADSM302 5 inch LCD HDMI digital microscope (ebay), and I have just plugged it in to a garden variety 1080p LCD computer monitor. The footage you saw in my video was me just filming the monitor on my phone. No video capture trickey in this case. The scope is a game changer for me and repairs, especailly the small surface mount components.

[@Shanaigins]

@@xyzconceptsYT Thanks for the reply I will look into getting microscope you have.

[@steenmaigaard834]

What about the one with the blinking stand-by lamp, I have that issue

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Desolder all joints on the LFE detect board and redo them all. Worked for me just bad/dry joints. 👍

[@AppletreeAuto]

Do you offer repair or trouble shooting help? Same sub. No power

[@xyzconceptsYT]

I don't normally, just my own stuff and friends, but I don't mind a challenge 😀. Hit me up on my email maybe we can sort something out. 👍

[@timothyhills3194]

Hey and Can i buy a new motherbord or parts for it ?

[@xyzconceptsYT]

When my unit failed there was no boards available to purchase, so I had to resort to having a crack at the repair, which worked out. As far as I know the XLS range is still made under different revisions but mine was well out of warranty at the time. If you aren't handy with electronic repair, small third party repair shops should be able to handle it.

[@timothyhills3194]

Thanks and i wish you and your famile a great weekend 😎💪👍

[@xyzconceptsYT]

You too!

[@timothyhills3194]

Thanks 💪👍👌

[@errormachine5056]

My XLS-15s is crackling and popping non stop, super loud when there is no signal (stereo is completely off) it's been going for 15 minutes straight now. It's loud and scared the kids during our before school breakfast. Can't imagine what it would have been like if it happened in the middle of the night. How the crap do I fix it? Hell, I'd buy a replacement amp, but it appears you can't buy one. The sub and box are in perfect condition, don't want to just buy a new one, I want this one to stop crackle and popping. Any suggestions?

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Yep, that's how mine went in the beginning, sounded like WW 2 in the middle of the night. All because of dry nasty solder joints, the offending part of the circuit was the standby PCB responsible for "waking up" the sub when a signal is received.

[@hypnosissm]

@@xyzconceptsYT I have a XLS 12s, with the same kind of amp, mine does also hiss and pop. It is quiet until it gets a lfe signal then it starts and will never go to standby again. pulled out the lower board the one with the switches attached and re-flowed the whole board, but no improvement. Do you have any suggestions where to look next.

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Is the input source signal clean and working correctly?

[@errormachine5056]

@@xyzconceptsYT I bought a new sub. I upgraded to an SVS. This SVS is far superior for sound, deeper bass and more accurate and clean sounding. It also scales way nicer.

[@hypnosissm]

@@xyzconceptsYT Yes, it is a clean signal. Have tried another sub and no distortion. Strange thing is if the sub is disconnected from mains for a day. Then it plays distortion free for about 30-60sec then it starts..

[@Nakamichicarlos]

PLEASE I NEED THE ELECTRONIC DIAGRAM OF THE SUB BASS BRAND CERWIN VEGA MODEL cerwin vega cvhd-12s subwoofer diagram

[@jamessimpson5504]

Would you recommend these subs to anyone or tell them to shop else where

[@xyzconceptsYT]

I would recommend these subs, but for a large room. The quality of the build is great and the delivery of those lows are incredible, much depth given to those action movies. The fault in the video seems to be rare and not a deal breaker for me. People who like to "feel" their sound, these are the subs for you. :)

[@castelinthesky]

I have a problem with mine and it is that it plays really low even though we crank the sound. What could be the problem

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Firstly is the subwoofer itself ok and not blown with all that dub step? 🤣

[@castelinthesky]

@@xyzconceptsYT the sub is fine, bought it 2 days ago of some dude. He tested it in front of me. And it played. And we changed the fuse. Its just that before you get the volume to "oh shit im gonna get evicted" it kind pf whispers to you.

[@xyzconceptsYT]

@@castelinthesky So, what is the source audio setup in your scenario, is it thought a receiver? LFE output that is enabled?

[@castelinthesky]

@@xyzconceptsYT the source is a receiver, pre out for subwoofer to the lfe in the 15"

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Can you tell me the make and model number of the receiver you are using?

[@modern-chiang-mai-pool-villa]

you could have just followed the lfe input and see where it goes.

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Yeah could have, but wanted to trace from the outward most input than risk missing something.

[@randyphelps1760]

WHY do you play music so loud that it makes it difficult to hear what you are saying ???

[@xyzconceptsYT]

Thank you for your feedback. Duly noted, my future videos have more attention given to the audio quality. Thanks again.