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KSP-400 Hum Fix/Possible Non-Powered Tower conversion?


EdmundGTP

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Sure, I am going to buy this one from this company: Panamax M4320-PRO.

They've always done me right, and, it's a superb product due to the ability to program it, and, it's 20 AMP! I simply love the flexibility. I've owned Panamax for more than 10 years now and it's saved my system several times. We actually suffered a near miss by lightning one time that knocked things off the wall from the boom (and I almost hit the ceiling from the, well, fright!), and, lost so many things in the house. It was very expensive! But not the A/V system. I actually have two side by side Synergy cabinets, and, one of them will simply use a strip off of the M4320-PRO. So, for the stuff in that cabinet, it's will all be always on equipment like DVRs so that it doesn't need by outlet in essence. This essentially extends the number of outlets you have. Panamax is one of those picky companies that doesn't warrant the product except from their list of online dealers. I got a good price since I didn't need "free 2 day shipping", we all know that isn't free! For the Crown, I got the best price from zzounds, them I am unfamiliar with, hopefully, they are a good company.

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That looks like a good unit. I already run a Furhman power conditioner/surge protector, so I was thinking of picking something up that's simply a single outlet current sensing switch like the Niles APC-2. http://www.nilesaudio.com/product.php?prodID=APC-2&recordID=Automated%20Switching%20Systems&categoryID=Switching%20Systems&catcdID=&prdcdID=FG00254

Or perhaps just another power strip that has a current sensing outlet.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've got one speaker completed and put back together. It worked beautifully first time. No hum, no noise, good sound. The Crown receiver (new model) is very quiet. Don't hear it either. Had to change my AV receiver settings for the Crown apparently and while at it, I changed the receiver to send no 80Hz or less audio to the regular speakers whereas before, apparently they were. I can change it to 100Hz, I will experiment if that sounds better or not once I get both done. Sound is very good, pretty darn loud! Had to set the max sound also on the receiver for the subs, which, once I get the second one done, will likely have to revisit.

I have a movement disorder, and, its very hard to stay sitting, standing, or bent, etc. for too long.

I have one good KSP-400 internal amp that I can sell to someone if they want it. I have no (that I can hear) hum from it. Of course, move it to a new system, and YMMV. Ground loops, all sorts of things can happen. And, I am not even using a cheater 3-2 prong adapter or any other trick. Somebody may not want to go through the pain of modifying their speakers, and I guess there are no spare parts any more. Or easy ones, reading back, you tried a lot of folks with little or no luck! So, it needs a good home. I listed it on the for sale section, anhone who might want it, just PM me.

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Glad to hear it's working out. I think when I first finished modding the KSP towers I ran my receiver's crossover at 100 hz, and seeing as how the subs are co-located with the towers, you dont have to worry as much about being able to audibly determine where the bass is coming from. I switched it back to 80 hz though when I added a third sub to the system. With just the KSP towers alone though, the switch from 80 hz to 100 hz is a very very subtle one.

I actually still have the amps to my pair of KSP's still laying around in a box. I only ever had problems with one of them though. The last time they were both up and running in their totally stock form, the left speaker amp was working just fine. Not sure what I'll end up doing with them, but I know neither of them is doing me any favors sitting around taking up closet space.

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A strange occurrence on speaker 2, which had the working AMP in it with no hum. Hooked up to the crown, by itself as I did speaker 1 for testing, there is definitely a real hum. I don't understand that, the test was identical, there is no internal electronics, yet, hum. It's not the Crown making the hum thusly. Is there anything I could have done wrong to cause the hum?

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There isnt a whole lot to mess up with respect to the new set up with the external amp. You may still get ground loop hum through the amp, and another place you can pick up interference hum is through the low voltage audio cables running from your receiver to the amp. Need to know more about how you have things set up currently to get a better idea.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey guys,

I ran across this post when looking for a fix for my KSP400's hum coming from the sub. I tried Trey's advice and replaced the filter caps. I did it on both amps, even though only one was humming. The large filter caps were broken and leaking fluid on both amps, so my guess was that the other amp would start to hum soon anyway. Unfortunately the large caps are sorta expensive. About $20/each and you need two per amp. So the total cost for the caps was about $90, and fortunately I had a friend who is good with circuit boards.

They have been working well for about a month now and are extremely clean. If anything changes, I'll let ya know.

Special thanks to Trey for getting me the wiring schematics!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I'll second that! After living with "the hum" for years, one of my KSP-400 sub amps recently quit working entirely. Thanks, EdmondGTP, for the guidance to set up a stand alone sub amp. I think it's the right solution. I purchased a Dayton SA1000 subwoofer amp for $400 and a couple of speaker terminals for $8 through PartsExpress dot com. The sub amp drives both 15" subs with tighter, cleaner bass than I ever had with the original built-in amps. Also, I used 1/8" plywood to replace the old heat sink, easier to me to work with than the metal. Initially, I was concerned about the resale value of the speakers with such a major mod until I noticed the KSP400 speakers on Ebay for several hundred bucks. In other words, they are fully depreciated. Oh, and one more thing. I didn't bother storing my old amps in the closet. They went directly into the trash... Speakers sound better than ever. Thanks again, EdmundGTP!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 months later...

So, after some time sitting off to the side I got my KSP amps fixed. First, I took them to the repair guy here locally and he instantly said "I bet it is the filter caps", so he replaced them and it was all good for a couple days and then bam, it's back. I got to looking through the service manual. Low and behold under trouble shooting it said......."Excessive Hum-check all filter caps", so I changed all of the filter caps on the amp module (including the big 6800uf main caps, got them for just over $6.00 apiece shipped from NY) and the two other small caps that were not listed as "filter caps". The amps both have a very slight hum that you can hear if the house is extremely quiet, computer not running, fridge not running, etc. From my couch I can't hear the hum, but if I get down right next to the sub I can, that might be normal I don't know. Other than that, they are sounding very nice! I got all the caps for both amps for about $50.00. Changing the caps was a breeze and they sound all that much better because I DID IT! haha.

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  • 5 months later...

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