Speaker Wire running parallel to Household 120v

[Ogeez]

I have discovered an issue with my speakers (wired to 16 and 18 g) where I heard a slight hum during a scene that was simply not producing sound. I never gave it much thought and had always beleived that it was the media at fault or the fact that I had the volume so loud that I was hearing the elctric current humming through the speakers.

Well I had mentioned this during a conversation with a friend of mine who happens to be in the Audio business for the past 25 years and he told me to trace the speaker cables and make sure that any 120 volt wire running nearby (within 6 inches of the speaker wire) was not running parallel to the speaker wire. Sure enough I had my rear speaker wires running under the floor attached to the baement ceiling joists directly along-side an existing household 120v wire. I made the effort and moved the wiring away about 10 inches from the 120v wire and tested out this theory. To my surprise the hum effect was almost completely gone.

Thought I would share this fact and ask what everybody thought of this.

Attached is Phase 1 of my HT Project, I'll post proper when done.
Thanks
:cool: :eek:

[mtrycraft]

I have discovered an issue with my speakers (wired to 16 and 18 g) where I heard a slight hum during a scene that was simply not producing sound. I never gave it much thought and had always beleived that it was the media at fault or the fact that I had the volume so loud that I was hearing the elctric current humming through the speakers.

Well I had mentioned this during a conversation with a friend of mine who happens to be in the Audio business for the past 25 years and he told me to trace the speaker cables and make sure that any 120 volt wire running nearby (within 6 inches of the speaker wire) was not running parallel to the speaker wire. Sure enough I had my rear speaker wires running under the floor attached to the baement ceiling joists directly along-side an existing household 120v wire. I made the effort and moved the wiring away about 10 inches from the 120v wire and tested out this theory. To my surprise the hum effect was almost completely gone.

Thought I would share this fact and ask what everybody thought of this.

Attached is Phase 1 of my HT Project, I'll post proper when done.
Thanks
:cool: :eek:

Yes, thanks. This gets overlooked at times. But, if you still can, try to separate it by at least 12", or more:)

[Tony_Montana]

Yes, thanks. This gets overlooked at times. But, if you still can, try to separate it by at least 12", or more:)

So would you say that zip cord might not the best choice when it comes to protecting the system from outside noise?

I think Ogeez's post is a good indication that if we want to combat outside interference, speaker wires must also be protected. May be we should look into Star-quad speaker wire design-or some other types of wire-that are more immune to noise in today's home environment where bunch of wires are going everywhere :)

[mtrycraft]

So would you say that zip cord might not the best choice when it comes to protecting the system from outside noise?

I think Ogeez's post is a good indication that if we want to combat outside interference, speaker wires must also be protected. May be we should look into Star-quad speaker wire design-or some other types of wire-that are more immune to noise in today's home environment where bunch of wires are going everywhere :)


Special circumstances exist:)
Twisted cables would help a lot here, yes :)

[jneutron]

Twisted cables would help a lot here, yes :)

Absolutely agree. Twisting them together will eliminate the 60 hz sensitivity, as well as transient pickups should the ac draw be switched.

John

[Bill L]

Here is an interesting link about noise picked up through wiring, including speaker cables. It's about RFI but seems like it should apply to 60hz in the power amp's feedback loop.
http://www.antennex.com/shack/Dec99/beads.htm
I've been trying these beads and they work great on the tv, little effect on my particular audio system, except to make it sound worse when stuck on the main amp's power cord.