Eliminating that Terrible Hum From Your Home Theater Speakers

!±8± Eliminating that Terrible Hum From Your Home Theater Speakers

You've all heard it, that dreaded 60Hz hum through the speakers of a home theater or house audio system. Hopefully you heard it at a friend's house and not your own. It can drive you completely nuts. You may have even tried, unsuccessfully, to fix the little noise problem. That can make you even more crazy. What causes that horrendous noise through your speakers?

More often than not humming through your speakers is caused by a grounding problem. There are three main ground problems that cause problems in an audio / video system. These are ground loops, improper grounding and lack of a ground altogether. The other possible culprits that can cause noise are bad cables, a faulty piece of equipment or electrical noise from a lighting dimmer or electric motor. There are steps you can take to troubleshoot the noise and eliminate it from you theater.

The first step is find out where it is coming from. Disconnect your source and display equipment from your receiver or surround sound processor. If the noise stops, connect them back to the receiver or processor on at a time until the noise returns. When the hum comes back, you found where the noise is entering your system. Note that if you are connecting remote equipment, such as running the signal from your theater room DVD player to the TV in the bedroom, your chances to pick up noise increase dramatically. With such long runs, noise can be induced into the long cable runs from adjacent electrical wiring. It is also easy to create a ground loop, because the equipment is plugged into two different, widely separated outlets, on different electrical circuits.

If the noise is caused by a cable box, the noise is likely caused by the cable TV ground. To test this theory, disconnect the incoming cable TV feed to the rear of the cable box or TV while they are still connected to the rest of the system. If the noise is eliminated by disconnecting the TV cable, the problem is the cable TV ground. You can electrically decouple the cable TV feed from your system with a ground breaking transformer. These are available from many sources. Be advised that many newer, digital cable TV systems require any device in the signal chain to pass a full 1,000 Mhz. Some of the older ground break transformers will not do this. Be sure to check the specifications of whatever device you are purchasing to verify it will pass the digital cable TV signal.

If the noise is from your projector, TV, or monitor, it is most likely caused because the video display device is plugged into a different outlet than the other a/v equipment. It could be on a different circuit as well. These circuits may have two different ground potentials. That is, the resistance to ground is different on each circuit. A difference in resistance to ground from one ground point to another can cause the dreaded ground loop. If you get a ground loop, current flows between the two components. If the current flows through the components internal audio signal ground, you will get a hum.

You can use an isolation transformer, similar to the type used for cable TV ground problems, to eliminate the electrical connection from one component to the other. These transformers are inserted in line with the audio signal connection between the two components. If there is no audio connection between the components, the problem may be current flowing through the video portion. In this case, a video isolation transformer should be used to eliminate the ground loop.

Sometimes power conditioners will stop noise problems by placing equipment on different, electrically isolated outlets. This is done using isolation transformers. Sometimes this is ineffective however, due to the differences in internal construction of different power conditioning equipment. Some safety regulations, such as UL 1950, specify that an isolation transformer is only allowed to isolate the hot and neutral wires; the grounding wire must be passed straight through. If this is the case, the ground loop problem may still exist because many communication circuits are connected to the grounding conductor and not the neutral. In this case, the isolation transformer, or any power conditioner or UPS with an isolation transformer will have absolutely no affect on the grounding problem.

The noise may be generated externally, from a dimmer or refrigerator compressor for example, and coming in through the main power input on the audio video equipment. In this case, a high quality power conditioner may be effective in reducing or eliminating the noise problem. You may also find that one of the signal interconnecting cables in your system is faulty. This can also cause noise problems. Check for this by swapping the cables with one that you know to be good.

You can solve most noise problems in your home theater or multi room audio/video system by taking the systematic, step-by-step approach. Work your way up the signal chain, eliminating each piece of equipment as you go. If you have nothing connected to your speakers except the speaker wiring, and they still hum, the problem is noise induced into the speaker wiring from adjacent power cables. Other than that case, most problems are caused by ground problems, which you can find, and solve, if you take it one step at a time.

Eliminating that Terrible Hum From Your Home Theater Speakers

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How to Get the Most Out of Your Speakers

!±8± How to Get the Most Out of Your Speakers

It is important to know how to get the most out of your speakers. Speakers are an integral part of your home's media equipment. They provide audio outputs such as ambiance sounds and dialogues. Speakers give an edge to clarity, pitch, and depth of sound. A quality speaker enhances the quality of any musical experience.

If you are interested in getting the most out of your speakers without breaking the bank, then here are few tips on which areas ensure a better speaker performance.

Speakers are the keystone of audio output. In a home theatre system there are basic types of speaker placements: The right and left front speakers, the direct centre speaker, the surround sound speakers and the sub woofer system speakers. It is important for all of the speakers to provide the optimum output to ensure a realistic audio experience.

Front speakers produce the soundtrack and the effect sounds. There are different types of front right and left speakers categorized by their placement in the room. The most common types of front right and left speakers are floor speakers, book-shelf speakers and the satellite speaker system.

Floor speakers - These speakers are used with a home theatre system. They are usually large and the sound quality of these speakers is superb. The form, color, and material of the floor speakers can be planned to match with the decor of the room. A decor with traditional furniture and tapestry should have floor speakers with wood finish. Black colored speakers are good for a room with modern furnishings. The floor speakers can also be custom made for your requirement. On the downside, they are usually expensive and can take up lot of space.

Bookshelf Speakers - These speakers are smaller than floor speakers and work very well in a limited space. They are less expensive than their larger counterparts. There is a disadvantage with them, bookshelf speakers cannot produce low-pitched frequencies very well, but there is a solution, you can attach a powerful subwoofer system to enhance the bass.

Subwoofer and satellite speaker systems - These speakers are little geniuses. Tiny yet superbly equipped to give you the experience of full sound. The subwoofer is little bigger than the satellites but can be placed anywhere in a room and their performance will not be hindered. The satellites are small enough to fit anywhere, from walls to ceilings, tabletops to shelves. The most important advantage of the Subwoofer and satellite speaker system is that it matches different types of interior decorations.

Direct channel speakers do the majority of the work of producing the audio output, as it provides the dialogue and almost half of the soundtrack.

Surround sound speakers provide the ambient sound of an audiovisual presentation. These speakers give the experience of a movie theatre. The surround sound effect provides a 360-degree sound experience. The most popular types of surround sound speakers are in-ceiling and in-wall speakers. These are no different from the other speakers. In-ceiling and in-wall speakers as the names suggest, are installed within the walls and the ceiling. These speakers have been used for commercial purposes for a long time and now they are used for residential purpose. These speakers blend easily with the decor of the room as they are available in a variety of colours. It is important for in-ceiling and in-wall speakers to be installed properly to enhance the output of the speakers.

Not only the speakers themselves, but also other factors such as the placement of the speakers and the quality of the accessories help to enhance the output of the audio system. These factors are,

Inter-connections and Cables - It is crucial for the audio signals to be transferred from the source to the speakers for an audio output. As the signals go through different components there is degradation in the quality of the audio output. Therefore it is important for you to ensure that the cables used for connecting the various pieces of equipment are of very good quality and you can also use contact enhancers to be sure of a good connection. It is also important to use the best quality audiovisual equipment connection that is supported by your system.

Acoustic Improvements -Making the rooms more acoustic by the use of acoustic materials can be a good solution to get the most out of your speakers. The acoustic treatment of the rooms effectively enhances the bass response and clarity of dialogue. It is also important to cut out the noise emitted from the other components of the multimedia console like projectors and other components. Sometimes such noises hamper the performance of the speakers. There is a simple solution to this problem. Build a hush box around the noisy equipment out of special acoustic material to contain the unwanted noise.

The strategic placement of acoustic panels in the room can also enhance the audio output. To ensure that the panels are placed at the perfect position, you can run a simple test. Sit down where you would usually listen to the equipment e.g. on the sofa (the listening position) and place a mirror on the wall. Move the mirror until you are able to see the speakers' reflection. Mark that spot and there would be the perfect place to position your acoustic panel.

The placement of the subwoofer system is also important. Though the low bass is non-directional, the volume of bass and its tonal quality is affected by the improper placement of the subwoofer. To get rid of this problem use a simple trick. Place the sub woofer in the listening position outlined above. Move around the room listening for place with best quality of bass. Place the sub woofers in that position.

These hints and tips will help you if you would like to know how to get the most out of your speakers.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Speakers

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