Problem With E15HP

[jmika003]

I'm having an issue with my brand new E15HP that was ordered through Ascend Acoustics and delivered last Wednesday. I do plan to get in touch with Rythmik directly, but thought I'd try here in case someone can point me towards a quick fix that I'm missing.

When I first set it up on Wednesday evening, everything was great and we were super happy listening to it rattle the walls for the next couple of nights. :cool: Then I sat down to watch a movie with the family on Saturday night, and upon turning my system on, I noticed an audible hum coming from the sub even with no audio playing. I first tried switching the sub off and back on, but the hum was still there. Next, I unplugged the sub entirely, but the hum was still there after plugging back in. After that I disconnected the RCA cable from the sub, but the hum was still present. Changing settings on the amp (volume, gain, etc.) has no impact on the hum at all (i.e. it does not get quieter/louder). I tried plugging it directly into the wall and even tried moving the sub to a different room/circuit, but the hum is always there. Finally, I left it unplugged all night and it's still happening this morning.

In Rythmik's FAQ they talk about hum (http://www.rythmikaudio.com/faq.html#ground) and by reasoning through and following the troubleshooting suggestions, it seems like I just need to contact Rythmik at this point since the hum is always present even with no signal cable plugged in as noted in the FAQ. Anything jump out to anyone else?

Obviously it's disappointing and frustrating, but I really enjoyed listening to the sub for the little bit I've been able to and am so anxious to get back to it!

Thanks!
jmika003

[racrawford65]

Bummer that you are having issues. I’m sure Rythmik will get you sorted - if the sub’s amp, my guess is they’d ship you one to swap out. Easy enough. You may also want to try a different power cable

Maybe also try a different power cable? Or different sub RCA cable?

[bac2010]

I had a hum with my F15HP but it turned out to be coming from the cable box. Added an isolation transformer to the input of the cable box and that fixed it. But if you removed the RCA cable signal from AVR to subwoofer and still have the hum then it is probably the amp and it needs to be replaced.

[N Boros]

I had a hum with my F15HP but it turned out to be coming from the cable box. Added an isolation transformer to the input of the cable box and that fixed it. But if you removed the RCA cable signal from AVR to subwoofer and still have the hum then it is probably the amp and it needs to be replaced.

I have the same issue as the original poster and it is not the amp. This was easier in my case to determine since I have two subs and they would both hum without an RCA cable plugged into either. After months I finally figured out that when the dishwasher is running, on a different floor and breaker, I get the hum in the subs. I usually watch TV at night after dinner when we run the dishwasher. In my case it is an electrical grounding issue with the house wiring, or the dishwasher ground. An electrician should be able to fix this at some point for me.

For the original poster, I’d recommend turning off every since breaker in the house except the one with the sub on it. Is the hum gone? If yes, then one by one turn the breakers back on and see when the problem re-emerges. At that point you likely have it narrowed down to a room, where you could unplug everything from the wall and then one by one plug them back on to figure out which appliance or whatever is causing it. If the hum is still there with just the one breaker on, then unplug everything on that breaker except for the sub and see if the hum goes away. If not it could be the amp, though before having Rythmik send a new amp I’d try plugging it into a different outlet on a different circuit first. Rythmik will not be happy sending you a new amp, if yours is fine. You will not be happy swapping out an amp only to the same problem. It’s really too bad that there is shoddy electrical work done in so many houses that this problem is so common and such a pain to track down.

[racrawford65]

Good idea, N Boros. Although the OP did try a different room/circuit he still had the hum. However, from what you wrote, it may still be introduced from a different room/circuit/appliance and is impacting more than 1 room.

[bac2010]

I guess I was too quick to discount poor electrical wiring or another misbehaving appliance. Definitely could cause a power related hum. Hopefully circuit isolation helps with identifying the problem. If not then a product like Hum X potentially could help.

[Mag_Neato]

I'll add in my own experience here. While I did not have the issue described with my Rythmik subs, I did have a buzzing from an amplifier toroidal transformer. I added a DC blocking device (Van Alstine Humdinger) between the outlet and the amplifier power cord and that did the trick. Since the Rythmik amps (Not the class D version, however) have a good sized toroidal transformer, I wonder if that would help. I believe SVS sells another version of the DC blocker.

[racrawford65]

Thanks for posting that Van Alstine device, Ed.

Emotiva (if you dare ;-)) and iFi have similar devices that I found doing a quick search.

https://ifi-audio.com/products/dc-blocker/

https://emotiva.com/collections/accessories/products/cmx-2

[Mag_Neato]

Thanks for posting that Van Alstine device, Ed.

Emotiva (if you dare ;-)) and iFi have similar devices that I found doing a quick search.

https://ifi-audio.com/products/dc-blocker/

https://emotiva.com/collections/accessories/products/cmx-2

Ah, that's the one! I get Emotiva and SVS crossed up sometimes, thanks!

[racrawford65]

No worries. I checked SVS's site but didn't see anything similar. And it gave me the opportunity to discover the iFi version, should I ever need something like this (since I'm no longer an Emotiva fan)

[Mag_Neato]

No worries. I checked SVS's site but didn't see anything similar. And it gave me the opportunity to discover the iFi version, should I ever need something like this (since I'm no longer an Emotiva fan)

While that iFi looks nice, and is compact, it is for a single component. The Van Alstine Humdinger is slightly more expensive, but it handles 2 power cords and would be considerably less expensive vs needing 2 of those!

[racrawford65]

True.

I wonder how/if it (eg iFi) would work if used on the IEC power cord going into a power center, like an APC, Furmann, Panamax,etc.

[Qman]

Curious if you ever found a solution to this hum problem?
Please enlighten us if you have.
One thing I thought to try was a different power cord.
Thanks
Q