Yamaha HS8S Issues?

[Boy_Narf]

Hello Everyone,

I've been running a Lexicon Ionix-U82S for ages now. Right after I got the interface I picked up a set of used Yamaha HS50M monitors and have put them through their paces to say the least.

About 8 months ago I got a Yamaha HS8S subwoofer. I've been wanting one of these for a few years and when they went on sale, I finally pulled the trigger.

I used it for a few mixing sessions and the depth is simply amazing. I was jamming along with some tracks one day and started to smell the voice coil burning. I turned everything off and sure enough it was the subwoofer. I had the level set to the third tick, and both crossovers set to 100hz. I made sure none of my signals were clipping. Everything in the green from reaper, and same with I hook up a chromecast audio to my interface. The level lights are well under hitting the yellow led. I took the sub in for warranty service and they said everything was fine, and could not reproduce the smell.

Anyway, I would not call what I was doing loud. Mixing is done at a volume where we can talk over it, and music is not much louder than that.

Anyone have experience with these subs? Are they not meant to be turned up all that much? I don't think having the volume at the third tick should be causing the sub to clip.

Thanks everyone,

[Boy_Narf]

Well,

Went into the store to get it looked at again and both techs said it's the smell of wood particles coming loose at higher levels. Um... now that is a far fetch especially since it started after a year. I know it's voice coil smell. Oh well, going to run it at a lower level for a few days, and see if the smell goes away.

[Boy_Narf]

OKAY!

I contacted Yamaha directly and they advised me that "NO SMELL SHOULD EVER COME FROM THE SUB". Alright! So I sent an email to the store manager describing my situation, and he offered to send it off to Yamaha for inspection. I got a call a few weeks later saying everything was fine, and the smell is nothing to be worried about. Um, okay. Then the tech tells me the sub doesn't have a limiter on it, and to be careful, because he accidentally had it clipping on the test bench aswell. So the real issue in my eyes is that this speaker is way under-powered compared to the amp (that or an inefficient cooling system). I'm pretty sure something is wrong with it. Heck my $80 Logitech computer speakers can get the walls shaking, but this thing has to be so quiet (to keep it from smelling), I can barely hear it. I even tried the recommended gain setting from the manual and it still produces a smell. The sub defiantly provides more feel, than it does low end.

That said, the sub does mesh beautiful with my HS50 monitors.

Once it gets back from Yamaha, I'm going to run it for a few days and see what happens. If they are correct about the "plywood dust", it should eventually stop smelling after extended use. Then again none of my other ported boxes shoot out plywood dust so who knows at this point.

[prezbass]

Well, I have the same sub with a pair of HS8s, and I've never had anything like this happen.

I think the place you bought it from is giving you the run-around. In fact, I know they are.

If I were you, I'd start a little social media posting about this problem, and then approach the place with an offer to tell your social media fans how great an experience you had with them as soon as they offer a full replacement/refund. Of course, if they don't do that, then the end of the story in social media might be a *tad* different, but that will be up to them as to how it shakes out.

Just my $.03. (adjusted for inflation)

[Boy_Narf]

Hey!

Thanks for the reply. I've been running it a bit more and it still produces a smell. I had planned to sell it used but don't want to screw anyone over on a private deal. I was thinking I would take it back to the store and trade it towards a set of HS80s. Do you feel the sub adds much to the 80s? Or are the 80s enough for most work on their own? I've mixed on the 50s for years and they sound great but I'm looking for a bit more low end response as of late. The sub did sound good, but I never managed to get it balanced.

Thanks.

[DVDdoug]

The thing about smoke & fire is... Eventually the "fuel" is consumed it should stop burning. The odor may linger for a long time but it should stop producing odor.

If the odor isn't too bad and it still works, maybe you can live with it.

...There is one possibility - I wonder if you have a DC offset out of your soundcard/interface, and I wonder if the sub's amp goes to DC?

Can you see the woofer? If so, does it pop-in or pop-out when you connect the input and does it stay offset from it's neutral position? Or, does that happen even before you connect your soundcard/interface? ...If you've ever connected a battery to a (passive) speaker, that's what I'm talking about... After the initial click/pop, the speaker sits there consuming energy (and heating-up) without making any sound, Till it clicks/pops again when you disconnect it. (If that happens with no input connection, there's a DC offset in the sub's amplifier and that's a defect.)

It's also possible for your audio to have a DC offset (usually caused by recording with a cheap soundcard).

But... Most likely, the sub's amp would filter-out any DC and this is probably NOT the problem.. It's just one possible way to get heat from the voice coil without sound.




P.S.
Actually, it could be subsonic frequencies... It doesn't have to be DC (0Hz). So if you can see the woofer, also look for "excessive" woofer movement and maybe try a high-pass filter around 20 or 30Hz.

[cyrano]

Could be a blown capacitor on the mains connection. These are supposed to blow if the mains has bad overvoltage spikes. Sometimes they don't need spikes to blow. When that happens, they stink.

Devices that have had their X-rated cap blown, will stink for ages. Of course the smell gets worse as they heat up (a fan in there anywhere?)

Most devices will function without that cap, when it blows open, which is what it's designed for.

Or have you smelled burning resin from coils before?