REL Q400E Goosed - what should I do?

r21442

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Long story. Dedicated cinema room but never use it. Kids did a bit and it was a vanity project in a big house, that's all. Going to be moving soon anyway. I went to get it running in case any house viewers wanted to be impressed and found that my PJ was goosed, plug fuse gone in my CD player and internal fuses gone in my REL Q400E. I think everything else OK. The PJ is ancient 720P no HDMI and no fuses inside anyway so no idea what's cooked? The CD came to life again replacing the plug fuse and the Q400E blew a new set of internal fuses. Don't know if I've had a surge and its taken these out or if something failed causing a local surge which seems more likely?

So, 20 years old Q400E but asked REL anyway. Won't share the schematic or offer to fix but offer me 25% off a new one. I took the pcb out and found some of the FETs had gone and some current limiting resistors and another one burnt. Spent £20 on components put it all back together and it didn't blow the fuses and I got LED but the FETs started smoking and resistors glowing so I have given up. Shame cos it didn't have many miles on the clock!

No idea where I am moving to or what setup(s) I will have. I've got sonos around the house and a decent setup in my lounge. Do I buy a REL (they suggest S510) or something else or wait and see what setup(s) I will be running? Strikes me 25% is the sort of discount I'd see after xmas or black Friday or sales so not convinced it is much of an incentive?

Can I buy a new amp to bolt onto the back and connect to the drive unit which is good? Anyone sell these?

Anyone need a new drive unit?

All suggestions welcome!
 
Shame you didn't take the REL to a qualified repairer. I had a T5 fail a couple of years ago and got it fixed and it's now into it's eleventh year. Sounds like it was something external that caused the malfunctions so twenty years of reliable use says a lot for REL's build quality. My repair was as easy as a blown relay.

25% off is a chunk of money as the S510 retails at £2300. The S Series is considered to be REL's best range of subs for music and there may be better HT subs available for the same price that will give more slam with movies.
 
Trust me I asked! They said they no longer kept parts hence my own attempt as nothing to lose. There's nothing on the board that's anything special but without the schematic I am shooting in the dark. Even at that I identified at least 2 of the FETs obviously gone and 7 resistors. They wouldn't even give me a BOM so I could check but I don't see any custom silicon or anything?

At 50% discount I'd be tempted but I'd bet I'd see a 510 with 25% off this year?
 
I'd just see it off as parts and buy a new sub.

Budget, movies/music, room size?
 

Interesting.

rccar - budget not an issue but per the OP not sure what I am going to need or want in new house. I'm selling for ~£1.7m and buying for ~£1m so it is going to be nice whatever but could be open plan, or have a snug or or or...!
 
Dedicated cinema room but never use it.



No idea where I am moving to or what setup(s) I will have.

I've got sonos around the house and a decent setup in my lounge. Do I buy a REL (they suggest S510) or something else or wait and see what setup(s) I will be running? Strikes me 25% is the sort of discount I'd see after xmas or black Friday or sales so not convinced it is much of an incentive?

Best to wait little bit before you know what kind of lounge the new house has. The S510 is quite expensive for what it offers if the main use would be movies.

REL has the HT/1508 Predator for 1500£ and if you get -25% off that would be 1125£ which is very low! I doubt they drop that much though, it was probably only for the more expensive S serie models.

Even the smaller HT/1205 should be nice upgrade from Q400e, they have also lowered the price.
 
Pretty much my thoughts too.
 
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