Printable View
We've had our LV12R for about 7 months now and it started picking up some kind of feedback recently. It has some kind of crackle, buzzing, hum thing going on in the background. I really don't know where to start troubleshooting or how this may have started. It's really distracting once I started hearing it.
Any thoughts on what this could be? I tried turning it off, unplugging, and using a different outlet/power strip. No improvement.
Thank you!
Definitely not at all normal.
It's possible that the power outlet can cause interference, but I haven't heard of crackling sounds being caused by such (nor have I ever personally heard power line interference on modern equipment). My guess would be that the amplifier is dying. Almost all electronics components (of any kind) have roughly a 1% failure rate in the first year. How does it feel to be part of the 1%? :)
I suggest contacting Rythmik about a repair or replacement.
Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to try a ground loop isolator to see if that helps. Strange that this came out of nowhere. The only thing I can think of that we added or changed is the new Amazon Fire TV Stick.
Would it be easier just to disconnect the Fire TV Stick, and see if the problems goes away?Quote:
Originally Posted by 2000m2
I assume the problem goes away when the audio cable is disconnected? Granted this is the case it wouldn't hurt to clean your wire connections, and if this fails, to swap out the audio cable for another one. Also, make sure your audio cable is not running parallel to a nearby power cord.
Mark
Here is a link from Rythmiks website http://www.rythmikaudio.com/faq.html#groundQuote:
Originally Posted by 2000m2
Yes, goes away when audio cable is disconnected and thanks for the link. Going through these recommendations, but no luck yet. Ordered an isolator for the TV cable line. Can anyone recommend a high quality shielded subwoofer audio cable?Quote:
Originally Posted by markie
I'd suggest Monoprice.
Having high gains on the Sub amp can induce hum as well. If the hum is gone when you disconnect the rca cable, then the hum maybe be caused by other electronics or interference at racs ends and you can test it by eliminating other electronics that you use by unplugging them out.
I had a hum appear suddenly while watching a movie..it continued even with all sources turned off & the sub in standby mode...the sub cable was accidentally pushed up against the power bar while dusting under the credenza. Certainly a simple fix but it did take some doing...figuring that out....:o
As for recommending a new sub cable the ones from monoprice are good but the LC-1 from bluejeans cable are double shielded for the best possible protection from EFI or RFI issues.
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/subwoofer/
We tried to start over by unplugging everything and then just connecting the sub to the receiver. The buzz, hum, crackle was there. We rerouted electrical as much as we could & still there. We purchased a Viewsonic TV coax isolator, but that didn't do much of anything. Next up - New audio cable to the sub and an isolator along that connection.
Really annoyed by this. We tried to watch Heat Friday night and I had to turn off the sub it was making so much crummy crackle noise.
We picked up a BlueJeans subwoofer cable and their isolator and no luck. My wife thinks there was a slight improvement over the original cable, but some feedback still there. I have to say, it is a very nice cable with quality (heavy) connectors. We also tried an isolator from Radio Shack. Oddly, both isolators made things worse. Does this point to anything?
I think our next step will be to start with the electrical panel to see if we can track this down by opening and closing breakers.
Move the subwoofer to a different electrical circuit.
If you get a hum, it is probably the sub amplifier.
The snap, crackle and pop occurs only when the sub is connected to the receiver via audio cable. Since it is not the audio cable that is the problem perhaps it is the receiver itself.Quote:
Originally Posted by curtis
2000m2, what happens if you disconnect all wired sources that are feeding the receiver, and then play something wireless, like bluetooth or radio? Any crackle on the sub then?
If there is still crackle, do you have another receiver or something that could feed an audio signal to your sub to check if there is still crackle?
Mark
Hi Mark & Curits - Thanks for the ideas. I ran an extension cord to plug the sub in to an outlet on the other side of the house and no change. We unplugged everything from the receiver (inputs & the other 5 speakers) except for the sub and were still getting a buzz/crackle. I don't have another receiver w/ sub output, but will see what I can do about borrowing one or something. Also, going to get back in touch with Rythmik. From a brief phone conversation with them, they were pointing towards the receiver possibly having a bad output.Quote:
Originally Posted by markie
Sorry for my delayed reply. The end of the year gets really busy for me.
Maybe it will help someone down the road, though I'm not sure it is a solution anyone would really want to attempt.
We ended up sending the receiver to a manufacturer approved repair center since everything was pretty much brand new. They didn't find anything.
Rythmik sent replacement parts that I changed out. No improvement, but they provided great support.
Ultimately, we ended up replacing our electric panel in 2016 and rewiring some of the house because we installed solar and, sure enough, the issues with the sub went away. Overall, the 5.1 set-up sounds phenomenal.