Turning off active subwoofers at night

WTBMrBlonde

Established Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
Messages
61
Reaction score
3
Points
32
Hi all,

I usually turn off all my main appliances in the living room at night (TV, Sky etc) and with my new A/V receiver, speakers and sub setup I'm concerned about the sub part of it.

It's a BK XXLS400 and it does not actively turn itself on/off based on the amp being turned on/off and I wanted to check whether its a problem to cut the power to it from the wall or if it's best to turn it off on the sub itself before shutting off the socket supply ?

It might be a stupid question but I've spent a fair amount of cash and I get easily paranoid ! :)
 
I have a 200XLS and I really wouldn't worry about it.
The power switch is a 'hard' switch, so I can't envisage the effect being greatly different to that of a wall switch being thrown.
Also the power switch is hidden away round the back. I wouldn't expect this to be the case if you were expected to use it regularly.

I can't remember but I think the BK subs come with a decent warranty. If the manual doesn't tell you not to do it and then you have a problem, that should be a straightforward warranty repair.
 
I used to turn my BK amp plate off at the wall for about a year using one of those smart energy saving adapters, until the adapter broke, having saved me only a fraction of it's cost :suicide: For the last 10 years I've just left it turned on :)
 
Yeah, I used to switch my Gemini off every evening without fail.. But after about a year, I just forgot about it, and I've carried that behaviour on with my monolith.
 
I have RF controlled plugs on my BK sub and projector - so I can turn them both on or off with one click on the remote.

Hasn't done any harm as yet.
 
I bought a nice accessory after buying my XLS200, a inteliplug, so basically when I turn on my amp, the sub turns on aswel and the same happens when I turn off the amp. Ive been using this inteliplug for about 3yrs now with my XLS200 and Ive had no probs what so ever... I havent touched or moved my sub for 2years now, just dusted the top and sides every so often, and it still makes me go wow when I listen to music even now(soz gone a bit off topic there)
 
Last edited:
I use one of the IR controlled plugs for both my sub and power amp. Works great when I remember to switch it on. Normally the kids have it on for their TV so I do forget and go in to panic mode. Mine is more to save money as I am sure the Monolith was designed to be left on.
 
I have installed this today and it works fine, using the A/V receiver as the master controller:

Belkin Conserve Smart AV
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
I have installed this today and it works fine, using the A/V receiver as the master controller:

Belkin Conserve Smart AV

I was looking for one of these as I was disappointed my gemini 2 does not have auto on/off and this is the next best thing.
They are on offer for £8.97 from tesco.
I posted it in the bargain forum here
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
These do have the advantage of the power supply is controlled by switching the amp on rather than detecting signal, which can result in false on/off switching by the sub
 
I was looking for one of these as I was disappointed my gemini 2 does not have auto on/off and this is the next best thing.
They are on offer for £8.97 from tesco.
I posted it in the bargain forum here

I just ordered 3, thanks, I think :laugh:
 
I was looking for one of these as I was disappointed my gemini 2 does not have auto on/off and this is the next best thing.
They are on offer for £8.97 from tesco.
I posted it in the bargain forum here

picked mine up from tesco,

Thanks for the link.

use to turn of PS3, AVR, HD DVD ect,
 
I was doing some energy auditing around the house… and I remembered this thread and someone asking about turning off their subwoofer at night… presumably out of energy consumption concerns (?)… anyway, I connected my SVS 20-39 PC+ subwoofer to this little gizmo that monitors energy use (watts) and energy cost-per month/year (based on EU average electricity rates). Belkin Energy Saving Insight Energy Cost Monitor: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

With the subwoofer set to auto-on, receiving no signal from the receiver… it is continuously consuming 12.2 Watts, which would cost £1.08 per month, or £13.14 per year in electricity.

*This doesn't take into account the amount of electricity the subwoofer will use when its receiving a signal from the receiver/amplifier [During movies or music listening]. The £1.08/month or £13.14/year, is just the cost of electricity if the subwoofer is left constantly on stand-by for a whole month/year… without being played.

*Also, when it comes to the Auto-on setting, I found that whether the LED was Red or Green didn’t make a difference in electricity consumption. Infact, leaving the subwoofer on the Always-on setting consumed 12.1 Watts which is a negligible difference. I would have thought that on stand-by with the LED lit Red, the subwoofer amplifier would consume very little electricity, but there was no change. For comparison I checked my TV and later my receiver whilst they were both on stand-by… and they both consume under 1 watt of electricity.

All subwoofers aren’t the same so yours might consume abit more or a lot less during stand-by. But if like me you’ve found that the subwoofer wasn’t being activated/woken up when you were using the receiver (while it was set to Auto-on)… the lesson here is that you could just leave the subwoofer on Always-on and its possible there won’t be a power consumption difference.

My subwoofer has the older SVS bash amplifier. According to the SVS website the newer sledge amplifier has a “green stand-by mode” so its consumption figures might differ. PowerSoundAudio also note on their website that the amplifier on all their subwoofers consumes less than 1 watt on stand-by.
So there are highly regarded subwoofers out there that are “green” when on stand-by, if that is high on your list of requirements.

Picture 1: Auto-on, Red LED, 12.2 Watts
Picture 2: Auto-on, Green LED, 12.1 Watts
Picture 3: Always-on, Green LED, 12.1 Watts

Picture 4: Auto-on, Red LED, £1.08 cost/month
Picture 5: Auto-on, Red LED, £13.14 cost/year
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    57 KB · Views: 129
  • 2.jpg
    2.jpg
    80 KB · Views: 127
  • 3.jpg
    3.jpg
    78.9 KB · Views: 118
  • 4.jpg
    4.jpg
    55.9 KB · Views: 120
  • 5.jpg
    5.jpg
    57.8 KB · Views: 101
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
20hz that's very interesting. I will check mine.
 
The manufacturer of mine (MJ Acoustics) says to switch it off when it is not being used. I then used to forget to switch it on, so mine is on a time clock so I don't annoy my next door neighbours with late night listening. It also saves on electricity.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom