formica

I agree, it's got to be one of two things, either a bad rebuild or a short-circuit... It really shouldnt be clipping as that would imply very loud music / sound effects. Are all the wires and contacts nice? When you say you heard something, was it during installation, or removal?

---------------- Setting all of the speakers to small resulted in a huge increase in the base and it sounded really muddy. ---------------- This is definitely a sign of cancellation (phase adjustment), as you got more bass by removing part of the signal. If you receiver doesnt have a adjustment for the subs phase, your plate amp on the subwoofer itself should have one. Turn your mains speakers back up, and play with the phase knob (or switch) till you get the most bass at your seating position. If neither the sub nor the receiver has an adjustment, try flipping the polarity of the wires leading to the sub (black to red, and the red to black)... it obviously get trickier to do if its a line level RCA input into the sub, but you can do it by replacing the plug. Good luck... Rob B.