Sub Woofer Hum... This One Puzzles Me


i've got a low level hum coming from my subwoofer, and this one has got me scratching my head. the sub is a vandersteen 2w that's connected via high level inputs (the only option on this sub) from a separate amp channel (instead of piggy-backing off the mains). here's what i've found...

when the system is up and running, there's no hum. so, all the following applies only to when the amp that is sending signal to the sub amp is turned off.
as soon as i turn off the amp that is connected to the sub, the hum starts.
the level of the hum increases and decreases as i adjust the level of the sub (sensitivity on the vandy plate amp).
disconnecting the preamp from the amp does not eliminate the hum.
disconnecting one of the speaker leads at the sub amp does eliminate the hum.
unplugging the sub from the AC receptacle results in the hum getting appreciably louder.
using a cheater plug to lift the ground results in a similar increase in hum loudness as when the sub is unplugged.

any ideas?

the amps are plugged into a running springs audio ac conditioner, the sub is plugged directly into the wall. i was curious about plugging the sub into the running springs unit, but it's too far away.

is this just a normal ground loop? i thought in those cases a cheater plug diminishes the hum - in this case the cheater plug, or simply disconnecting the AC to the sub, resulted in the hum getting quite a bit louder.

any inputs would be appreciated.
128x128srosenberg

Showing 8 responses by srosenberg

thanks, Marakanetz. unfortunately piggy backing the mains isn't really possible in the current setup - is there any way to reduce the output resistance of the amp?
Thanks, Al... i'll give that a try as soon as i can. i really appreciate the help!

-Scott
@ Marakanetz...
thanks for the suggestion - i've got some inexpensive IC's i can try, as well as a 'subwoofer' IC. i didn't bother messing with them as when i removed the IC entirely, the noise was unchanged. i will certainly try swapping a few to see if that helps.

@ Al...
as always, my sincere thanks for your inputs. yes, with the sub unplugged from the AC and the amp supplying the signal to the sub turned off, the hum occurs. in fact, it is quite a bit louder this way then when the sub is plugged into the AC and the amps supplying signal to the sub are turned off. turning on the amp supplying the signal to the sub eliminates the hum entirely.

the amp is a McIntosh MC7100. i am not sure how long a full discharge takes, but i can confirm that the hum does persist for at least 30 minutes after the amp is turned off. the amps have been off all evening, so i will check when i get home tonight if the sub is still humming.
Al, after having the Mac amps off all night, the sub is still making the hum noise.

the AC plugs on the Mac amps are 2 prong polarized. reversing them using a non-polarized cheater plug did not change the hum at all. one thing i did notice is that if i touched the banana terminals at the Mac amp, the hum got louder, but if i touched the banana terminals at the sub amp, the hum went away. not sure if that's meaningful.

there are inputs for both the left and right channel on the 2W sub amp, and i am only using one, leaving the other open. i switched to the unused input, but that didn't change the hum. i thought perhaps using only one input on the sub might be causing this, but according to the manual, when stereo 2W subs are in use, they are connected using just one input.

regarding the resistor - sorry for the rookie question, but do i just insert the leads into the inputs on the sub amp, then insert the banana terminals on the speaker wire along with them? the amp on the sub can only accept bananas. also, i assume since i'm only using one input, i only need to add the resistor to the input in use?

thanks,
Scott
Al,
you are correct - the 7100 has the older Mac screw type terminals, but i have a set of spade to banana adapters that i'm using on the amp. is shorting the + and - terminals on the unused sub channel simply a matter of a short run of wire terminated with bananas inserted at the inputs?

Swampwalker,
i tried calling Vandersteen prior to posting - they are closed this week. will try again next week just to see what they think.
i spoke to Richard Vandersteen yesterday - he's completely stumped. he did say that shorting the unused input is not advisable and that adding a resistor would not correct the situation. his suggestion was to run a ground wire from the ground terminal on the sub amp to the amp or preamp.

is this just a matter of taking a piece of unterminated wire and securing it under the ground terminal on the sub amp on one end and any screw on the back panel of the main amp on the other end?
ARGH!! i spoke to McIntosh today and they said a grounding wire should be connected to one of the screws on the bottom of the chassis of the amp. i went ahead and did this, connecting from a screw on the bottom of the chassis to the grounding screw on the sub and it did not change anything.

one thing i did notice that i need to correct from my earlier posts is that when the sub is unplugged from AC, the hum does in fact get louder, however, after 30 seconds it stops entirely.