Speaker Hum

[savage1984]

Okay, I know this has been addressed in some way or another but I don't feel the answers given apply to me or are understood by me.

So I have a my speakers all hooked up via 16 gauge speaker wire. They're all polk into an Onkyo 605 reciever. I get this low hum whenever I turn my reciever on and it doesn't go away. I just end up turning the volume up louder to try and cancel it out.

Can someone point me in the right direction as how to fix the hum? Do I need cl2 wiring???

[jsteinhauer]

Do all of the speakers hum?

[savage1984]

I'm pretty sure it's just the back two. They're the ones my brother and I mounted to the ceiling and wiring through the attic-like area between roof and house. Really dusty and stuffy up there. You think there's a chance it has to do with wiring? THey're o2 free but not cl2 certified. Because those weren't available from monoprice for another two months (right about now).

[JaysDomain]

If you can, run a temporary wire in a straight shortest route to it, if the hum is still there, exchange the receiver, otherwise have fun re-wiring.
I have an 805 and the first thing I noticed was how quit the surrounds were when not in use, not a sound or hum; my sony had a constant low hum which drove me nuts; fix it before its to late, or worse, you get used to it.

[GreenMotion]

Originally Posted by savage1984

I'm pretty sure it's just the back two. They're the ones my brother and I mounted to the ceiling and wiring through the attic-like area between roof and house. Really dusty and stuffy up there. You think there's a chance it has to do with wiring? THey're o2 free but not cl2 certified. Because those weren't available from monoprice for another two months (right about now).

It sounds like your wires are running near, or over electric wiring. I had a similiar type hum with one of my speakers and this was the culprit in my case.

[savage1984]

ahhh so if it is near electrical wiring, how do i fix it? Just move the wiring over?

[savage1984]

by the way, thanks for all your answers and help. I will be testing out new strategies soon.

[Brandon B]

If the speaker wire is parallel to an electrical line and within a few inches, it will pick up the 60Hz cycle as hum. Try to get it farther away, and/or non-parallel.

[GreenMotion]

Originally Posted by Brandon B

If the speaker wire is parallel to an electrical line and within a few inches, it will pick up the 60Hz cycle as hum. Try to get it farther away, and/or non-parallel.

I second this!. Just move your speaker cables over a bit.

[gearyt]

welcome to electronics 101
you just built your first transformer !!
make sure that any crossing of electrical is done at 90 degrees
as stated above, the easy way to test is to run wire across your
room and by pass the other wiring

[savage1984]

well at least I know I'm gonna get dirty. Just have to pick up some wiring... and bypass the thingy.. and well... i'll let you guys know how it went. Thanks

[sj001]

The other option is some heavily shielded speaker wiring...

[savage1984]

dually noted... all great suggestions.

[jsteinhauer]

Before you do a lot of work, make sure your humming speakers are not set at relatively higher levels than the rest of your speakers.

The first time I set up my 6.1 speakers using the automatic feature of my receiver, it set the front right speaker at +10dB as opposed to all others in the -5 to -10 range. It certainly hummed, and was fixed by setting it to the same level as the front left.