BK Electric - Gemini - No longer Working

Tom Tom

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So I have just moved house and have an Onkyo TX-SR505 and a Gemini Sub.

Now plugging in the sub and no sound comes out.

There is sound from the Amp to the 2 main speakers (missions) but nothing from the sub,

I'm not sure what to try, How can I test if the Gemini is still working? (Power lights up the back panel).

Thanks
 
So I have just moved house and have an Onkyo TX-SR505 and a Gemini Sub.

Now plugging in the sub and no sound comes out.

There is sound from the Amp to the 2 main speakers (missions) but nothing from the sub,

I'm not sure what to try, How can I test if the Gemini is still working? (Power lights up the back panel).

Thanks

Did you get test tones from the subwoofer when you ran Audussey setup with Onkyo in new house?

Make sure you have connected the subwoofer cable to Right (Mono) at the back of Gemini and the "low level freq" knob is turned to LFE, it clicks when you go pass 120hz. Phase to 0 and "lo level gain" to 10-12.00 clock typically.

Also make sure when you go to Onkyo menu that "speaker size" is set to Small for all speakers. Check after running Audussey.

Also make sure you have connected the subwoofer cable to "Pre Out - Subwoofer" on the right side (lonely one), not to the left one which also says subwoofer!

x580TXS505B-b.jpeg
 
I have the wires in the right place but am yet to find the set up mic (I thought it was in our front room foot stool) so may be a victim of the move!

I presumed as it had worked, it should still make a sound as it was set up in the old house.
 
Have you tried a different lead? I added some more cabling in yesterday to our system and a sub stopped working. Tried another sub and still didn't work, so realised the RCA lead just randomly stopped working (not making this up, but it does seem coincidental!).
 
I bought another lead and the same thing
 
Does it just sit there clicking? That’s what mine did and it was a sticky relay the BK fixed for not a lot of £.
 
Does it just sit there clicking? That’s what mine did and it was a sticky relay the BK fixed for not a lot of £.

No, there is no sound at all! If I pull out the wire it makes that "hum" of the wire touching metal (so feels like sound is able to pass through, but nothing from the amp.
 
Give BK call today and ask to speak with Tom Pearce. He will help you out! Don´t email or wait cause they go summer vacation soon.

Telephone: +44 (0)1702 527572
 
Just before you call them, I've re-read the thread, have you checked by any other means that there is actually a signal coming out of the amp? E.g. connect another subwoofer or any kind of amp with a speaker to the end of the RCA?
Apologies if I've read this wrong but I can't see that has been established yet?
 
Is the sub enabled in the amp settings? And is the amp outputting a .1 signal, i.e. its not playing as 2.0?

Have you tried the hi level connection to see if sound will play on the sub that way?
 
I test subs by plugging my phone into the RCA input and playing some bass sweeps or just a song with lots of bass. Watch the phone volume, set it very low at the start.

That way you can eliminate the AVR, cables, everything but the sub and the phone cable.
 
Is the sub enabled in the amp settings? And is the amp outputting a .1 signal, i.e. its not playing as 2.0?

Have you tried the hi level connection to see if sound will play on the sub that way?
Sorry, high level connection? do you mean like using the centre channel output?
 
The hi level connection is when you connect your sub to the speaker terminals of your amplifier. BK subs usually have a hi level connection which uses 3 pins as shown picture (marked with no. 1). They usually supply the appropriate cable with the sub; however, they do note not to use this connection with class d amps, not sure what yours is but wont harm just doing a test.
Screenshot_20210707-170927.jpg
 
I test subs by plugging my phone into the RCA input and playing some bass sweeps or just a song with lots of bass. Watch the phone volume, set it very low at the start.

That way you can eliminate the AVR, cables, everything but the sub and the phone cable.
So I did this and it worked.

I plugged it back into the amp and tried both cables and with music it was making a sound but with LFE it was making a terrible buzz sound (possible earthing hum) and got worse when I turned up the low end frequency gain/volume.

So Sub works, I am guessing it is the amp (although the other speakers are fine for the Stereo out the front). Next mission, find the mic that came with it and try a setup again.

Thanks everyone
 
The hi level connection is when you connect your sub to the speaker terminals of your amplifier. BK subs usually have a hi level connection which uses 3 pins as shown picture (marked with no. 1). They usually supply the appropriate cable with the sub; however, they do note not to use this connection with class d amps, not sure what yours is but wont harm just doing a test.
View attachment 1538836
So I did it to the low end and did a sweep (I don't have the other cable type.) and it made a sound.

My amp is the Onkyo TX-SR505 and old. I will try plugging them into separate plugs and see if that helps?

I want to upgrade anyway, so knowing the sub is fine, I can keep that.
 
So I did it to the low end and did a sweep (I don't have the other cable type.) and it made a sound.

My amp is the Onkyo TX-SR505 and old. I will try plugging them into separate plugs and see if that helps?

I want to upgrade anyway, so knowing the sub is fine, I can keep that.
Might be worth trying a factory reset, before you scrap it completely.

A common problem is broken solder joints around the RCA connector, that can cause hum and broken up audio but if you get audio from Music it's not going to be that.
 
Might be worth trying a factory reset, before you scrap it completely.

A common problem is broken solder joints around the RCA connector, that can cause hum and broken up audio but if you get audio from Music it's not going to be that.
How do you factory reset it? And do you mean about or sub for the reset
 
How do you factory reset it? And do you mean about or sub for the reset
I've no idea as I don't have the same AVR as you, it's just a suggestion in case the software configuration is corrupted, messed up. I suggest you google "factory reset" and the make and model of your AVR, alternatively if there's a thread here for the specific model ask in there. Google probably knows the answer though. :D

I know I've had some issues with my AVR once or twice, including misbehaving crossovers and a full reset has got things going again. There is a big software aspect to even quite old AVRs and it's entirely possible that's causing the problem you have.

Worth eliminating it for free anyway.
 
I've no idea as I don't have the same AVR as you, it's just a suggestion in case the software configuration is corrupted, messed up. I suggest you google "factory reset" and the make and model of your AVR, alternatively if there's a thread here for the specific model ask in there. Google probably knows the answer though. :D

I know I've had some issues with my AVR once or twice, including misbehaving crossovers and a full reset has got things going again. There is a big software aspect to even quite old AVRs and it's entirely possible that's causing the problem you have.

Worth eliminating it for free anyway.
Thanks, I'll just get on Amazon and buy some Google grease!
 
I no longer have the amps remote so can't try the factory reset. It's not the end of the world at the moment though. Want to upgrade the amp at some point, just have to save the £
 
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