JL Audio CR-1 buzzing sound

For a bit now when ever I first power up the CR-1 I get a loud and I mean loud buzzing that slowly disappears. Gets softer and softer the. Gone. Until next recycle after being off a while.

Now I noticed during movies buzzing coming back like really loud bugs in a swamp. I tried quick recycle but it came right back. I unplugged for a few min and it went away 100%. Nothing. It came back in next movie and same thing unplug for a bit and it’s gone.

I know many people have this unit and wondering what others may think it could be. I think it could be a capacitor but or relay.

I’ve never turned my CR1 off. I leave it on 24/7

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I’ve never bothered to get a CR1. :wink:

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I would suspect the class-D amp may have a problem. Will JL cover repairs if you sent the amp back? Might be easier than sending the entire sub.

EDIT: Also carefully check your cabling and interconnects to the sub. Always a good first step. Have you tried replacing the cable(s) to the sub?

The CR-1 is the standalone Xover, not the one that comes with sub and has amp built in.

I normally dont turn off. Its been this way for a bit and only noticed when I moved things around and had to power down as I dont shut it off. Now it seems to start doing it after just sitting there a while. So far only with movies so when the pass through is engaged. Very strange.

Just heard back from JL, of course out of warranty, and they said it has happened a few times to a few out of thousands and they were users turning on and off…which I do not do, but I am 2nd owner. The fix is $250 plus shipping there. grr… the money is not an issue, but more of the time down. On business trip to Tx next week so it may be good option to ship now an minimize not having it. I asked if they would tell me what relay (that is what they said it was) needs to be swapped and my friend could do that. much faster and cheaper fix.

Also just found out they will update the unit to the latest design changes. So $250 and shipped off it will be.

If it only does with movies during pass thru then it’s more than likely your processor or a different component. I don’t think it’s your CR1 if the problem isn’t replicated in 2 channel mode but I could be wrong.

They have verified this is a know issue for owners who turn it on and off. I did not do that, but I am 2nd owner, so who knows what the first guy did. Getting it fixed with latest upgrades is worth the $250+shipping there. Shut everything down last night…away next week so its a good time to do this.

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Sounds like a great plan. I’m afraid to ask JL how much subwoofer service is. It used to be $400 in 2019BC (before Covid) now I’ll have to ask since I have an issue with one of my subs room correction. I’d also have to purchase a box from them.

I did not have box, but I used my outlaw audio 5 ch amp inner box to ship it and added some foam I had left over from room treatments. nice and tight. hoping they give me new box back…:slight_smile:

I was told by JL for the subwoofer they need to be shipped in factory boxes. At 130lbs I understand why.

Tonight when I arrived at @minnesotafats home the magic of his system was gone. He was using his CR1 to feed his mains and one sub.
Taking the CR1 out of the chain and running the REL sub via the high level input brought the magic back.
My theory is that the CR1 damages the signal.

That certainly may be the way for those subs. RELs are designed to be used that way. When I was looking at adding a sub, I was thinking using REL via the mains like that, but it would require two subs to do right IMO. I do not have that much room in my music room. But then I also would have to set my theater to have no sub and send via main. It also pushes the limits of the main set of speakers. My Sopra 2’s can really only do to around 30 and I know the HT would push that limit. That being said I went the CR-1 path. Once installed the gains were instantly noticeable. Was not even close. Add in how it does bypass for HT, its a very key part of my system.

Interesting observation. I know the CR1 does an AD / DSP / DA conversion. But I read with internet when Robert Harley in his review notes no transparency impact.

I have thought about the CR1, particularly as I’ve now moved from Focal studio monitors, that have an onboard high-pass setting, to ATCs which do not.

I think you are referring to DAO I think it’s called. That comes with the amplifier version for the big subs. It does room correction for the subs.

The CR-1 is pure analog. No DSP just xover with bypass for up to 2 subs.

I notice no loss of musically and the way it integratthw sub with the mains is just what I wanted.

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My information may be wrong - I was talking to someone who was repping JL Audio at a show — I pressed him and said “is this an all-analog box?” … he replied with a sort of wink-wink face “it’s analog inputs and outputs”

I don’t know his name, sorry, it was a long time ago. For my part, I don’t think a well implemented AD / DA in real time is necessarily a bad thing when you consider the additional capabilities you have (almost limitless) with DSP vs analog crossover filtering. But as we’re hearing, YMMV.

Any crossover is also an opportunity to duck things up — maybe the settings weren’t fully dialed in?

I have read Robert Hartley’s thoughts, as well as a few others. My ears hear a loss, I just have to be honest and say it.
Think about it, in my friends case he has $200k worth of components all passing the signal through a roughly $3000 box. How hard can it be to not degrade the signal?
Apparently $3k worth of electronics isn’t enough. I can see how some people would enjoy the box. In theory it’s a wonderful thing. In practice it degrades the sound of the high end gear I was listening to. Maybe midfi gear is another matter.

It’s a $3500 box let’s not be insulting. Lol

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I can not confirm or deny if the CR-1 “degrades” the signal. Does a Rel sub sound bad connected to the CR-1? In my experience most definitely! Does my JL F113’s sound bad connected to a CR-1? No. The Rel prefers to be connected with the high level via the Neutrik speakon connection on the amp or amps.

I did say “roughly $3000”.
When I was listening to the system through the CR1 I thought it sounded off from a recent visit without the CR1. When we took the CR1 out of the system we only listened to the main speakers, no subwoofer attached. The main speakers sounded better not going through the CR1. Then we hooked up the REL N25 (just one) via the REL High Level cable. The sound was wonderful.

To make my point clear, the main speakers suffer a degradation feeding through the CR1.
This is not about subwoofers, this is about what the CR1 does to the main speaker sound.
How bad the degradation is depends on you, the listener. If you don’t hear it, you win.