Sony HT-RT3 Sub-Woofer Cooling Fan Noise

[Bladevane]

There is an annoying whining noise coming from the sub-woofer whenever the unit is switched on. The fan speed increases when audio output from the TV is heard and during lulls in TV conversation the fan can clearly be heard spooling down as the speed decreases. I am on the second sub-woofer unit and Sony have ordered a third one as a replacement. To be honest I am not expecting this one to be much, if any, better than the first 2.

Clearly someone in the Sony organisation has missed the noisy fan issue or decided customers will have to put up with it.

The noise is distracting and totally unacceptable.

[Auster52]

Hi,

I didn't want to be bothered with the procedure of a "fan fix" as I have had this issue with noisy Mac computers in the past and it never really got resolved, so I took back the whole set of gear - Sub, Sound bar and side speakers. The dealership (Curreys PC World) didn't even ask why - they just refunded the whole amount.

I then went to another dealership and bought myself a Denon HEOS, which is phenomenal!

Good luck

[Bladevane]

Ajlongfield - They were pretty keen for me to take the whole kit in so they could test it before and after the firmware upgrade. There was no charge but you must take in proof of purchase.

[es0001]

Hi everyone,

I took my HT-RT3 in to a local Sony repair dealer after Sony confirmed there was a fix available for the fan noise. The fix was done under warrantee which is good and the noise of the fan constantly spinning up and down is gone now. The fan is still running but at a constant low speed, I don't hear it any more which is nice. Unfortunate the product was this way to begin with however happy a fix was available. 

Regards

[RUATANASOV]

Dear Sony representative,

I bought Sony HT-RT3 before 1 week and the system have this fan noise that was verry inapropiated. There was a sound when i turn on the system. 

Then I go to the store and inform the person in charge about my problem and he advise me to repair this unit in sony authoriazed service center. I go to the service and after few hours they call me to return my unit. When I go the mechanic explained to me that he had done firmware updated and evrything is fine. 

When I go home their was again this noise. I go second time to the service, the mecanic told me to lieve the unit and after 1 day he call me back. and told me that evrything is OK with the unit, the fan is noise but this is how it works. 

I spoke with SONY BULGARIA and they told me that know about this issue with this model of Sony Soundbar system and they cannot help me even their is an issue. I gave half of my salary to buy this unit because is SONY but their is an issue with this fan and this is not important for the big company like SONY.

I'm verry disapointed, this was my first and last time when i buy SONY. Their is so many companies that want to get your money and when you have problems they change the unit but not Sony. This maybe is the situation in my country Bulgaria not in other parts of the world, but this is how you will not buy next time from them. For the most of people in Europe 250EUR is nothing but for me like a bulgarian is a half salary that i will pay for something that doesn't work properly. 

When i volume down till 15 and lower, the sound of the fan is terrifying.... in my local store decline to change my unit too even if i buy it before 1 week and even they know about this issue. 

I hope someone to see this comment and to know that this model of Sony is not working properly. Iread and watch more than 30 comments about this issue in the internet.  I explain the situation several times but nothing.

The girl from Sony department in Bulgaria told me that she knows about this problem but can not do anythinгg.

Do not buying this product their is a fan issue. I think their is a cheaper systems that are working better. 

If anyone in Sony Europe can assist me with this issue i will apreciate. 

Best regards,

Ruslan Atanasov

[Anonymous]

Hi @RUATANASOV

Can you please send me a private message with the case number you have and i'll escalate your complaint on this thread (along with the case number) to Sony for them to sort out properly.  I am on the understanding that the firmware upgrade 'should' have resolved this issue. 

Cheers

[Bladevane]

Ruslan, I am very sorry to hear of your disappointment with this product and the SONY response. Trust me, there is a fix which SONY can do, I think it is a case of escalating this to senior management and finding the correct repair centre who knows how to upgrade the firmware in the sub-woofer. I really hope SONY listen to your complaint. My own experience was very similar to yours and I doubt I will be buying SONY again. They just do not seem interested in keeping customers happy and encouraging them to continue buying SONY equipment.

[JaviSpain]

I’m so sorry things work like that in Bulgaria… in Spain you can return ANYTHING you buy in the next 15 days, even if you have used it a lot, by law. You don’t need to give any reason… and BY LAW they must return your money… in money No “coupons”.

In some shops this can be up to 90 days, but by law is 15 days.

There’s no firmware fix if that fix is still giving energy to the fan… if the unit needs the fan to work is a bad design, terrible design for a sound equipment.

They should call back all units on the market and make customers happy.

Good luck from Spain!

[Anonymous]

Hi @RUATANASOV

Thanks for the reply - I have escalated your complaint to Sony Support for them to figure out whats going on and to hopefully fix the noisy fan properly

Cheers

[RUATANASOV]

Dear Sony,

Today Sony Bulgaria called me back and they told me that they will refund all the money that I pay. 

I'm so happy that Sony Bulgaria help me! 

When i get my refund i think to buy SONY  HT-CT390. I hope with this unit not to have the same fan issue. 

I will try to read more comments before buy it. 

Thank you SONY. You prove me that your name is important in the ELECTRONIC SECTOR.

Thank you verry much!

Best regards,

Ruslan

[Edited to remove personal details -EdU]  

[Jecht_Sin]

Great. After discovering that the HT-RT3 has a real 5.1 surround with 5+1 speakers I was thinking about buying it. And then I have discovered about this fan issue. Is it still present? Or it has been fixed by some FW updates?

Also, since we are here.. Does it support DTS-HD and most recent audio Codecs?