well, I finally had time from school to mess with my 400's a little bit more...i tried everything...moving the wires, checking all the connections, rubbing them with alcohol and all, and lubricating the nobs...nothing worked. I have ordered a cp-1, to see if it is the pre-amp. thing that im a little upset about is that i ordered it a day and a half ago and they ran my card right away, but when i checked online it was still just "pending". i called and they said it had not shipped and they would upgrade my shipping, but its still very annoying to have to wait longer than i have to. I will try the new pod and see if that's the case...if it works i'll add more years to my already 2-3 year old speakers, if not, i'll go for the ultra's