Sub Noise

[hemster]

Jan 18, 2012 11:18:44 GMT -5 @a1uc said:

Jan 18, 2012 11:16:30 GMT -5 DYohn said:

Did you click the link?

Frequently Bought Together
Customers buy this item with VSIS-EU Cable TV Ground Loop Isolator $24.00


I asked if I should buy this also

You reported issues with the audio, hence the ground breaker recommendation from DYohn. If you also have issues with video (e.g. horizontal black/gray lines scrolling up on the TV) then the Cable TV isolator will help.

I also think that the isolator alone would fix your audio noise issue. But that's an expensive solution compared with the ground breaker.

[DYohn]

Exactly, thanks Hemster.

[a1uc]

Jan 18, 2012 11:34:36 GMT -5 DYohn said:

Exactly, thanks Hemster.

Thanks for the info

[Darksky]

Dude, your house is haunted.

You have TWO boxcar subs and no bass.
Dancing sheets cover your tweeters.
Everytime you look back there - your surrounds have moved.
Your system has now resorted to snapping at you.

You should move.

[a1uc]

Jan 18, 2012 14:26:43 GMT -5 Darksky said:

Dude, your house is haunted.

You have TWO boxcar subs and no bass.
Dancing sheets cover your tweeters.
Everytime you look back there - your surrounds have moved.
Your system has now resorted to snapping at you.

You should move.

Or see it all and buy a real system
Bose ;D

[a1uc]

I did watch Unstoppable last night and when my subs hit I about jumped out of my chair

[NorthStar]

Jan 18, 2012 3:52:59 GMT -5 hemster said:

Bob, the analog terrestrial signals are not microwave! If they were, then 'rabbit-ears' antennae wouldn't do much for you. Microwave is a 'line-of-sight' technology.

Over the air (OTA) signals are high frequency UHF/VHF and unless you have an old TV which is analog only, you should also be receiving some HD channels. Set your QAM tuner to scan for all digital frequencies.

You can find the channels broadcast in your area (broken down by digital or analog) from the FCC database by entering your address here.

I get all these channels in my area. Of course, YMMV.

To get the best out of it, the antenna would have to be rotated depending on frequencies. Or alternatively, use a "bow-tie" antenna which is not as good as a rotator because of frequency gain cancellation effects.

Hey thanks for that clarification Hemster!

* If only I was into TV though ...

[NorthStar]

Jan 18, 2012 14:32:43 GMT -5 @a1uc said:

I did watch Unstoppable last night and when my subs hit I about jumped out of my chair

About goddamn time! ;D

[a1uc]

Jan 18, 2012 11:05:59 GMT -5 DYohn said:

Ah. It's the old bad cable ground issue. Very common on cable systems as they tend to use very shoddy grounds at the cable drop into your house. It's a ground loop between your cable and your preamp. The only way to fix this is to break the shield on the cable. This can be done using one of these.

Did not change a thing " xantech ground breaker "

[daveh1]

Had a similar problem to this with my old system .

Just a couple of suggestions on top of what's already been mentioned.

I'm sure you know this already, but one easy thing to do that might help reduce the problem is meticulous cable management in conjuction with that isolation transformer. BJC also sells one if that has not been mentioned.

As a matter of common sense just consider/assume that the network of cables attaching to your Onkyo are a potential antenna for sources of noise.

Assuming your subwoofer cable(s) is RCA, make sure this cable stays away from that evil DVR/satellite coax cable from the wall in particular. Any cables coming from the DVR should also be isolated from any other RCA cables plugging into your Onkyo.

Have you got your Oppo 95 connected via RCA for the multichannel outputs?

In the event of ground loops make sure that where possible your equipment is all grounded on the same circuit. The easiest way to do this is to have them all coming off the same set of wall jacks/power strip but is harder in reality when equipment is spread over a bit of an area.

The other really cheap and effective thing I did was to put Cardas RCA caps on any unused inputs on my Onkyo, stereo pre-amp and subwoofer. If your subwoofer(s) comes with L/R RCA jacks it represents another source of noise entering your system. I also placed RCA caps on the TV/CD and Phono inputs on the Onkyo, as they are unused. They would be fairly close to your coax/optical inputs on your 5508 as well, if they are in use.

Finally, XLR over RCA where possible.

Below is clip from the Cardas website which I found interesting. I'm not a subscriber to the belief that RCA caps have magical properties with respect to sound quality, but I do think they reduce noise substantially in some systems which can only be good. At a few dollars a pop, you also don't feel robbed if they make no difference.



Good luck! It's an incredibly frustrating problem I know.