Sub hum and setup

[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 --

[phatbass]

Well the best way to troubleshoot is unplug things and see what changes.

Does the sub hum when plugged into power only? If so a tripplite isobar or similar power filtration will help, if it is a 2 prong cord flip it aroud and try.

Hook up the sub cable, this can get more and more confusing, just start with the reciever and add components till you get the hum.

The sub cable doesn't need a monster y cable at the end, just the one cable is good enough. The speaker cables are the other way of hooking up the sub to recievers without a sub woofer pre out. The way you have it is fine. Try to narrow down your problems and ask more questions when you have them, good luck.