Subwoofer humming

[tullymars]

I have an onix rocket ufw10 sub that I purchased recenly,its a great musical sub,especially for its size.One thing that I dont like is it has a constant hum in it,you cant hear it when the music is up,but between tracks or any other time you can,any ideas,could this be just typical,my velodyne never done this

[noddin0ff]

'ground loop hum'

There's been other threads posted on the topic of hum with subs. Try a search for more info. The simple way to test is to either plug your sub into a different outlet that is on a different circuit breaker than the rest of your equipment, or to try a $0.99 cheater plug (lets you plug a 3-prong into a 2-prong outlet) to remove the ground. If the hum goes away, that's what it was.

[kexodusc]

How loud is the hum? Ground loop was my first guess as well, but that's usually as loud as the signal, which really makes it unbearable. You're description suggests it's a bit more in the background.

You could try switching outlets, and if that doesn't work, try using an extension cord but don't plug in the 3rd prong of the subs cable to see if a cheater plug would solve the problem (assuming you have a 2 prong extension cord around - i had to cut a chunk of plastic on mine to make room for the 3rd prong...so then a trip to a hardware store might be a better option anyway).

[wgriel]

I have an onix rocket ufw10 sub that I purchased recenly,its a great musical sub,especially for its size.One thing that I dont like is it has a constant hum in it,you cant hear it when the music is up,but between tracks or any other time you can,any ideas,could this be just typical,my velodyne never done this

I had a ground loop induced hum in my system that I finally solved by putting a ground loop isolator between the receiver and the subwoofer. It was just a $20.00 (Cdn) item at Rat Shack (oh sorry, they're now called "The Source" in Canada).

Bill

[tullymars]

Thanx everybody for all the advice,all I figured out so far is that,the hum goes away when I unplug the rca interconnect,so now I have to figure out the best cure.Bill has the isolator hook up in your system,I saw one it had two interconnects,my sub only uses one

[kexodusc]

If the hum goes away when the rca cable is unplugged, it's almost certainly ground loop. What's happening is your sub amp is grounding through that cable (and through the receiver).
A ground loop isolator will work, however, given that cheater plugs are only $0.99, I'd recommend those instead.
The fault in the amp would have to be disastrously catastrophic for the ground prong to actually provide any benefit. In such a case, that'd be the least of your worries.

[pelly3s]

I wouldnt lift the power ground that is extremely unsafe not only for your gear but for yourself. spend the extra cash on a small isolation transformer for the RCA input. you can get the cheap radio shack ones or spend a little more money on a higher quality one. I know there are many places out there that sell them for less than what radio shack does though. partsexpress.com has them for about $10

[tullymars]

Again,I use a single interconnect,looking at an isolator,it has dual interconnects,could I make this work?
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2160121w345.jpg

[wgriel]

Again,I use a single interconnect,looking at an isolator,it has dual interconnects,could I make this work?
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2160121w345.jpg

That will work - that's the same one I've got hooked up - even though it's got 2 connectors, just connect a single one (obviously make sure that you've got the same colour hooked up at both ends). I'm not sure why, but I did find that I got better results having the isolater as close to the sub as possible.

Even with it, there is a faint hum coming from my sub, but you have to be pretty close to the sub to hear it, and it's no longer audible from the listening position.

Good luck,

Bill

[tullymars]

Thanx to everybody for the great advice,cheater plug did the trick,going with it for now,will get an isolator down the road,would like to find one a little heavier duty than the radio shack one...thanx again!

[pelly3s]

http://www.rdlnet.com/product.php?page=108 this one should be better than the radio shack one