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Hi all,I wanted to check the accuracy of a salesman's recommendatin with you guys. My system has a soft hum that seems to be coming from the cable TV line. I've researched the problem and heard about the products from Mondial and Xantech (and ordered the latter, since it's so cheap). But someone at a local store (Sound Advice) claims that a $90 power strip from Monster Cable, with AC filtering, will solve the problem. Is that so? Or is the advice unsound (heh, heh).
Thanks in advance,
Ramon
Follow Ups:
Never listen to those twits at mass market chains. Mondial MAGIC is the way to go.
An update on the Xantech cable hum device:I've just installed the device and it seems to work. The cable hum appears to be gone. There is still a *very* faint hum, audible if the amps are turned up all the way and you put your ear against the speaker. This appears to be my equipment's noise, not the cable comapny's.
There was some concern that the Xantech transformer, and other inexpensive solutions, might weaken the cable signal and thus harm the iamge. But my cable picture looks ok, and I'm using a pretty long run (about 15 feet). (However, my vision is not very good at all, so take my comments here with a grain of salt.)
Thanks to everyone who responded.
Cheers,
Ramon
Good. I too was questioning this "too good to be true" inexpensive fix primarily after seeing the offering at Audio Advisor (but they do lean toward list price on many things). I didn't notice any degradation in picture quality and as I said, I have one on my cable modem with no problems.-- Greg
So if he is so sure, then will he let you try it?
--db
I have noticed when bringing in an outside source, like DSS, or Analog Sat systems, and even cable, that their ground potential can be different from your power company's ground. This can create the hum. Trouble is, if you lift ground, you stand a better chance at getting zapped by lightning, because the cable is on a pole somewhere, same for the SAT, and DSS, on a roof or out in the yard. You could try to get a better ground by driving rods deep into the earth,(9 to 12 feet, interlocking brass rods, local RS) and connecting the cable ground there, instead of where the cable company grounded, minimal at best. It still might not remove the noise. Also, the cable may be sending the noise with their signal, at the headend, they use consumer SAT recievers, with -10db unbalanced outs, a bunch of noise originates there too, because it is boosted up to broadcast level for their modulators, without interfacing, thus raising the hum with it. Another thing to try, get the remote box away from the TV, and see if that helps.
--A babbling db
Hey thanks. A question: do you know if the Xantech "ground breaker" will lift the ground, as you describe? (See http://www.hometech.com/video/atten.html) I live in Florida and lightening is definitely an issue.Cheers,
Ramon
Not sure about it's surge suppression capabilities. Cheap too! I also put one on my cable modem with no problems (didn't have a problem there, just did all TV's plus modem - probably overkill).-- Greg
That is a possible fix, this is a transformer, You would want to keep the vcr/tv end of that as short as possible. The price is right. My question to this would be, if it is a common condition, why is this not an internal component of any tv, vcr, or sat system? Or why is this not supplied?, OK cost, but if it is an automatic improvement to products (isolation, less Hum, why is it not there? We have all kinds of sat systems here at work, cable, and DSS. Not once, on any installation has something like this been used. Because it is a transformer, and being RF, it might knock the signal down, or cause channel bleed, or introduce other problems, like RF noise. But worth a try.
--db
Hmmm... Good question. In my frustration I just assumed that audio and cable companies were not dealing with the issue because they are evil :-) Better to let people think it's their fault (e.g., bad wiring) or spend $100 for a solution. But maybe there will often be drawbacks to an inexpensive solution (I'll let you know once I get the Xantech gadget).On the other hand, my limited experience suggests that most people are willing to accept audio hum, if it's not too loud. When the cable guy came over to my place, not only did he not understand the problem, he also seemed to think it wasn't a big deal. He said something like, "so you're getting good sound out of the TV, right?" (where 'good sound' means inteligible sound). If most people don't care about hum, then there's little incentive to provide a solution -- except for those who care and WANT to pay $100 for it!
Cheers,
Ramon
I would second that! If the hum is in the cable system line, no mains supply is going to fix it!Have you tried plugging in various combinations of equipement to see if you can isolate the source?
If this doesn't help, have you tried other cheap distribution blocks?
Are you using more than one mains outlet to plug up your gear?
All these things can be a cause of ground loop hum. I would experiment first, to at least find out that its not a faulty piece of equipement before you spend money.
Good luck.
Roland
I'm almost sure it's the cable TV line. The pesky little hum is there only when I connect the cable, and even if I route the cable through the VCR. Of course, it took about two hours for me to figure this out, as my first inclination was to blame the cheap TV and VCR I own! But, alas, I owe GE and Panasonic an apology.Oh, and for the benefit of others who encounter this problem: I found that the cable company (Time Warner) was not very helpful. They sent someone out quickly, but he had little idea what I was talking about.
Cheers,
Ramon
I had a fairly bad ground loop hum problem with my Sunfire True Sub MKII and the Dish Network receiver and cable. I purchased the Monster HTS-2000 and connected ALL my electronics into it and the hum went away. The HTS-2000 does have a filter network for the satellite cable and regular cable signal. The picture improved on regular cable.
Some people have commented on a loss of dynamics when plugging power amps into the HTS-2000, but I haven't had any problems. You can find the HTS-2000 online for around $125.00. You can also try ground isolation plugs, three prong AC female to two prong AC male adaptors. These you can pick up at a hardware store cheap.Good luck,
Wayne
Thanks, will look into the HTS-2000. $125 is more than I want to spend on this -- I mean, gosh, cable is $45 a month in these parts, w/o HBO, but apparently with the hum! Still, perhaps that's what it'll cost to solve the problem. The Mondial device itself goes for $90, and it's not a power center.In response to another person's question: I doubt that Sound Advice has a liberal home trial policy. My impression is that they're like an upscale Circuit City. But maybe I can insist on the right to return the power strip if it doesn't work out.
Cheers,
Ramon
I admit I haven't read all the posts here, but I have an HTS-1000 and it did nothing for ground loop with cable. The Xantech unit did work. It was about 12 dollars shipped.-- Greg
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