Wharfedale DX-2 Subwoofer - DEAD

Puntoboy

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I bought a set of Wharfedale DX-2 speakers and a subwoofer back in 2018 and they have been great, but at some point in the last few months the subwoofer has stopped working, it's not often I've been in the lounge and even then I've not really watched much that needed a subwoofer. My wife wanted to paint the wall where the TV etc. is mounted so I had to take it all down and move it out of the way. When I came to unplug the subwoofer I noticed it wasn't even plugged in, which was odd, but thought no more about it.

Moving everything back and connecting it up again and the subwoofer wouldn't power up. I checked the power cable with a multimeter (as it's an IEC C13 with only 2 pins, I can't replace it easily). It shows 240v so that's good. The subwoofer has a automatic sense option which turns the subwoofer off when no signal is detected so I turned that off, still nothing. I checked the little glass fuse in the subwoofer with a multimeter (again, no replacement) and it was showing continuity, so that seems OK as well. I popped the back off the subwoofer to see if there was anything obviously wrong with the amp but couldn't see any popped capacitors or anything, so I'm stumped.

Any ideas? Seems a real shame to throw it away.
 
Hi, I‘m facing the same issue. My DX2 suddenly stopped working yesterday. Like you the power light doesn’t light up. It is only 2 years old.
Did you manage to get it working in the end? I’m planning to call Warfedhale tommorow about that, it is not right for such product to die after so little use!
 
Afraid not. I contacted Wharfedale and they gave me the contact for their repair centre.

Our charges are labour fixed (not hourly) at 55GBP, plus the cost of any defective parts replaced, plus VAT and return carriage.

Not far from me so I’m going to drop it off next week hopefully.
 
Afraid not. I contacted Wharfedale and they gave me the contact for their repair centre.



Not far from me so I’m going to drop it off next week hopefully.
You'd be looking close to £100 minimum with parts. I'd put that money towards a tidy sub. Bundled subs from the vast majority of bundles by any manufacturer tend to be poor in comparison to those made by sub specialists. Honestly, save your money. I had the same problem with a KEF bundled sub which I replaced with a REL, the difference was quite staggering. That was over ten years ago and the REL is still going strong.
 
yeah not worth fixing not unless a mate can do it for couple of beers.

You're looking at fair price for engineer to repair it, or if you simply buy a new plate amp you're probably looking at £75 plus labour for swapping it out unless you do it yourself.

Considering you get SW-150 for £100-£150 and it's better spec, can't see the point.

Bass Driver8” (200mm) long-throw cone
Frequency Response40 - 120Hz ±3dB
Amplifier Power Output70W
Crossover Range40 - 150Hz
InputsStereo line In (2 x RCA phono),
mono (LFE), line In (RCA phono)
Input ImpedanceLine in 10kΩ LFE 5kΩ
FeaturesLow pass filter slope adjustment
Phase inversion
Auto on-off
Dimensions(298+30) x 268 x (300+22) mm ( h x w x d )
Net Weight7.8kg
 
I get what you are saying, it just seems like a huge waste to throw away what is otherwise a perfectly good subwoofer. We throw so many electronic devices away nowadays that often only require a simple fix.

I'm pretty handy with electronics, but I wouldn't know where to start really with this.
 
Just been doing some simple checks on the subwoofer. 244VAC going in, checked where the power connects to the PSU, so after the switch and fuse, but the output from the PSU, which should show 27VDC, is only showing 0.4VDC. So the PSU is dead.
 
Just been doing some simple checks on the subwoofer. 244VAC going in, checked where the power connects to the PSU, so after the switch and fuse, but the output from the PSU, which should show 27VDC, is only showing 0.4VDC. So the PSU is dead.

Darn that's a shame oh well this looks good
 
New PSU PCB board is £46 plus p&p and VAT. So roughly £75. I'm tempted just to do that and at least get some more life out of the one I have.
 
I get what you are saying, it just seems like a huge waste to throw away what is otherwise a perfectly good subwoofer. We throw so many electronic devices away nowadays that often only require a simple fix.

I'm pretty handy with electronics, but I wouldn't know where to start really with this.
Absolutely. Replacing an entire subwoofer for a single faulty component is generating so much waste made of actually perfectly functioning hardware…

This Warfedale product is defective and they should assume the responsibility to cover the repair.
Mine is only 2 years old and was replacing a 14years old Onkyo which still functioning as of now...
 
I think so, but it's out of warranty now, which is annoying. I notice that av.com, where I bought the set from, now offer a 5 year warranty on the same speakers since they rebranded from audiovisualonline. If I had that, it'll get repaired for free.
 
Unfortunately AV.com weren't interested in helping. They just sited it was out of warranty and wouldn't assist.
 
I am also the user for DX-2 Subwoofer (also WH-D8)
I watch this youtube and hoping if it is possible to fix.
I think you can refer to here

 
Looks very, very similar to the DX-2 internally. I've ordered a replacement board now but I'm going to watch this with interest.
 
So interestingly, I just tested to two mosfets he changes in the video and they are not dead short.

However, the two upper rectifiers are shorted on the two out pins.

This is a photo of the same model. The other one is a F16C20A.

1649347062120.png
 
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Actually, this looks correct, the A suffix is a common anode. The C suffix is a common cathode.

1649347955733.png
 
Hi Puntoboy,

Sorry for my poor English as this is not my first language.

Actually my DX-2 subwoofer is just dead (Failed to power up, exactly the same as you) and I read that youtube, want to replace the chips to have try.

However I am not an electric board expert, would like to seek your help first, and then I will try to buy items this weekend.

1. The one in the red circle is changed from the video, is it IRF740 and the one in blue circle is IR2153?
2. The two upper rectifiers you mentioned are they located in the green circle? If not, can you locate the part for the two upper rectifiers?
3. Followed q2, do I need to buy 1 x F16C20A and 1x F16C20C to connect?

Thank a lot.



circuit.JPG
 
I wouldn't go replacing components willy nilly. For example, on mine, the two mosfets (circled in red) are not short circuited, they could have failed, but then they could be fine.

The two rectifiers (circled in green) are supposed to be shorted between the two outer pins, so it's likely they are fine too.
 

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