Subwoofer and Humming

[dgrnideguy]

Hello i have a Polk Audio PSW-10 subwoofer that hums and will not shut off unless i unplug from the outlet.The hum is very loud....Help....Thanks

 

[aqualung]

That’s happened to me before, when our dogs hit the rca cable and pulled it out a bit. It also happened by the receiver rca connections.


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[dgrnideguy]

Thanks....the unit hums even when nothing is connected and the rca terminals look fine and are solid.

 

[lovinthehd]

Perhaps a ground loop hum. Try lifting the ground if it has a three prong plug.

 

[FnFancy]

When I first plugged in my Polk sub it hummed. In my case it started low and progressively got more intense until it put my reciever in overload protection. The same happened the first time I plugged in my little vizio sub. I rearranged the rac cable and all was solved. Granted I'm using sub par cables. It has to be feed back of some sort. Try rerouting the cable, also plug the cable into the other input. Might help.

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[dgrnideguy]

My sub humms even without rca cables plugged in.I plugged in another room with no other cables around and still same hum.

 

[PENG]

My sub humms even without rca cables plugged in.I plugged in another room with no other cables around and still same hum.

They all hum even without any ground loop because of the mechanical vibration of the transformer core, and some transformers are louder than others.

Some people are more sensitive to the hum frequency, but if you can hear it clearly from even 1 meter away then it is definitely louder than usual. Harmonics and dc offset in the power supply line also contribute to the severity of the vibration/noise. Try turning off anything that has variable speed and/or dim controls; and if it still hums loudly then you should complain to Polk Audio especially if it is still under warranty. If warranty has expired, then you can try replacing the transformer and see if that helps, assuming the subwoofer sounds fine, aside from the hum.

 

[sterling shoote]

Mine does not hum but it's passive.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello i have a Polk Audio PSW-10 subwoofer that hums and will not shut off unless i unplug from the outlet.The hum is very loud....Help....Thanks

If the sub has a loud hum coming from the speaker with nothing plugged in, then the switching power supply has failed. If the sub is out of warranty then this sub amp is done.

Your options are slim. That is $100 dollar sub. So a replacement amp will likely cost more than the sub. If you retrofit a better amp it is probably not worth it.
So the recycling center is probably the most appropriate destination for this unit.

I would replace it with a much higher quality unit. Units of this nature are a major problem and a major source of unnecessary pollution. We absolutely need quality and reliability standards going forward. There is no way you can produce a sub of any quality at all at that price and should not even try.