KSW 10 setup and hum

[Jabbo]

My system:

RX-V430 Yamaha receiver

KSF 8.5 mains

KSC-C1 center

IC 650 rears

KSW 10 sub

Digital cable, JVC DVD, Sony VCR, Panasonic 36" TV

Primary use of system is home theater, TV watching...secondary is music. I have had everything set up for a year or so. Overall very good sound for loud movies (Gladiator, Private Ryan and such), but I am no audiophile, just a lay-listener with a limited budget.

My questions:

I have noticed a hum from the subwoofer. Any suggestions? I got the manual out, it suggests that the cable-TV hookup could be the cause of the hum. I checked, it doesn't seem to be the problem.

Looking closely at the manual for the sub brings me to my second question. I have this sub hooked up with a Monster Cable "sub" cable with a Y cable from the "subwoofer" outlet on the receiver. Should I also have it connected with speaker wire to the main speaker outlets on the receiver? The diagram seems to suggest doing both. When I bought the sub the salesman only suggested using the cable. Would I gain anything by using the speaker wire, or should I just sit tight and focus on fixing the hum?

Any help appreciated --

[TIbor]

HI

I am not familiar w/ your reciever. But the sub cable should go to the lfe in of the sub, to the sub out on the receiver. No adapter,the sub hum sounds like a ground loop problem, where a simple adapter attaches to the power cord

Good Luck

[formica]

You have to use one or the other (speaker level OR- line level RCA) and given you are using it with HT, only the RCA one will provide a true .1 LFE signal rather than one derived from the left and right channels.

As for the hum... as mentioned it may be a ground loop hum... or also you may be picking up EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) or RFI (Radio Fequency Interference) from your room. A simple test:

1) get an extension cord and plug your sub into the same receptacle as your receiver. Does the problem go away? If yes, it is probably a ground loop problem

2) Get a short but decent Interconnect, and your extension from the previous exercise ... bring your sub next to your receiver and plug it in with the short interconnect, while using the extension to plug its power to where you typically keep it plugged. Does the hum go away? If yes you probably have EMI / RFI interference.

Let us know how this part goes... so we can give you better solutions to these common but annoying problems...

Rob