Question on Sub

[sandeep]

<font color='#000000'>Finally my PSBs have arrived and they play well. I initially bought them with out a sub, but the dealer made a good offer and I took the sub(PSB Subsonic 6).
I hooked up my speakers and see that the sub makes a buzzing noise when it not used....i.e. when I play music in stereo, sub is buzzing a little. Its not audible from 10ft but you can definitely notice it from 5ft. Is this normal ?

Also PSB sub has its own volume control(may be all powered subs do but I dont know that either), so turning down the volume to 20% seems help, I initially had it set to 45%. But even with 20% volume I can hear the buzz from 5ft.
May be I am being paranoid or I am just not used to a sub( since I never had one).

Please help!
Sandeep</font>

 

[Yamahaluver]

<font color='#0000FF'>Hi,

The buzz you hear is from the line in cable that you are using, either it is poorly sheilded or it is too close to the amp, try changing the position of the cable to see if the buzz goes away or else try changing your cable to a better one.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Dealer was also not confident about my wiring. I had &quot;5.1 surround sound&quot; in-wall wiring done by an electrician. Looks like he had poor knowledge of installing speaker wires. He used regular 16 guage speaker wire for subwoofer. Will try to run a good cable from outside the wall and see if this helps.
Thanks,
Sandeep</font>

 

[Yamahaluver]

<font color='#0000FF'>Hi Sandeep,

In a HT system, you should be running the sub from the receiver's sub out rather than speakers and I suggest you try this beofore you change anything.</font>

 

[HTJunkie]

<font color='#000000'>Your running it from your reciever using the speaker level inouts? Thats the way I have mine and it doesnt have a hum. Make sure that all your wires are shielded. Do any of the other speakers make the hummimg noise as well?

</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Well, I tried to connect to my sub by using a good RCA cable. Humming stopped......but there is no out from the sub

. I connected the sub with the old setup and I am starting to think that the sub might have never given any output......I must have mistaken this loud hum to be the sub's output. Now you know how much I know about subs

So here are the Qs:
1. Can &nbsp;I connect my reciever's LFE(sub) output to my sub using a single RCA cable?.......Should I get a different wire?
I would guess it should work......but what do I know about subs....
2. Sub does not power on everytime I push the power button....I have to wrestle with the power cable to finally convince it to go on.......should I exchange the sub for another piece and expect all my problems to go away ?
3. Do you guys leave your sub ON all the time or do you switch it on only when you want to listen to it ?.......or in other words....can I leave the power switch in ON position? &nbsp;I guess I am kinda lazy to turn it on, every time I have to use it. I would ideally like to switch on my receiver and forget the rest.

Thanks,
Sandeep</font>

 

[Yamahaluver]

<font color='#0000FF'>If you have to wrestle with the power calbe to switch it on, exchange it right away, also it is reccomended to use a single RCA cable for a sub from your LFE out which should also be a single output unless it is a Yamaha DSP-A1, Z-1/Z9.</font>

 

[HTJunkie]

<font color='#32CD32'>The way you have your sub connected shouldn't make a difference on the humming. The humming is being caused by some sort of interference. If you decide to run it to you sub out-put, make sure you are using a good shielded cable. &nbsp;

</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Thanks All guys, my sub finally works fine( well it was not malfunctioning in first place

).......its my lack of Subwoofer knowledge that caused most of this issue. Everything works good with RCA cable.
As for the electrical issue I was mentioning, I learnt that my sub would come ON once it has some input signal. Also I learnt that I could leave my sub ON as it can auto shut-off if there is no signal for X minutes.
I appreciate your help.
Sandeep</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I had a similar problem with my sub. It was the ground prong on the sub plug. It seems that if you go to Radio Shack and get a plug that reduces it to a two prong and eliminate the ground, this will solve the problem. The &quot;hum&quot; in my case was from a poor audio connection on tv from coax cable tv input. The plug reducer should eliminate ANY poor audio connection at a fraction of the cost and the headache of trying to find it.</font>