# Home audio help!



## Led (Jun 15, 2011)

Hi,

I recently added a JVC RX-8020VBK receiver and Harmon Kardon HKTS-10 speaker package to my home theater setup. Everything seemed to be working fine, until I noticed a slight popping. 

At first I thought it may be a faulty speaker. After I monitored the past few weeks, the popping doesn't come from the same speaker. It can come from any speaker. The popping can vary in volume. By switching back and forth from surround to stereo I can change the popping. Sometimes making it stop altogether. 

This problem persists across all appliances I have connected. PS3, Xbox 360, and Cable all have the same sound problem. I haven't noticed it when I patch my USB audio from the PC through it. 

The past couple of days the popping has become more frequent and there is also a squeaking sound sometimes. Any input you give I would be grateful for. I am trying to determine if I should purchase all new speaker wire or if it is my receiver that needs replaced.


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Welcome to TSF :wave:

It may be something simple. Make sure all of the connections are clean and secure. Unplug each cable/wire and reseat. Make sure there are no cables laying on a power cord. Change the power conditioner to a more robust one. Change the wall outlet you use.

If all of that fails to remedy the popping, return the receiver, send it in for warranty service, or replace as age and budget dictate.

Let us know how it goes.


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## Led (Jun 15, 2011)

I will try this today. Thanks for the speedy reply. I don't understand the term power conditioner. After google, I found this on Amazon: FURMAN M-8x2 Merit X Series M-8x2 Power Conditioner.


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## jaythorpe522 (Sep 7, 2010)

yustr said:


> It may be something simple. Make sure all of the connections are clean and secure. Unplug each cable/wire and reseat. Make sure there are no cables laying on a power cord. Change the power conditioner to a more robust one. Change the wall outlet you use.


Often a problem like this comes from people keeping their cables 'neat' -- they coil them up and tie them down and wind up with coiled AC cables on/next-to coiled audio or digital coax cables. Make sure, as much as possible, to keep your AC power away from your audio and speaker cables, especially if one, the other, or both is/are coiled.

Definitely a power conditioner is a good buy; even if you're having NO problems it's a good thing to have on quality audio components.

Does the receiver have a headphone out? Then you could narrow down if it's in preamp or poweramp stage, which may lean towards being an interference issue vs. defective unit.

Finally, just to check -- it doesn't sound anything like this, does it?

YouTube - ‪Cellphone noise on computer speakers‬‏ (just skip to 20 seconds in)


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## Led (Jun 15, 2011)

All afternoon was spent rerunning the wiring. I made a custom box today to tuck the wires away nicely. I left the speakers wires separate from everything else. They are at least a foot away from power cords. I changed to a different power outlet. I unhooked ALL the wiring on the receiver side and made sure everything was snug. The problem persists. 

I am certain it is not cellphone interference. I have had that before. This is like feedback popping and sharp tweek/chirping sounds. It is difficult for me to describe. It comes from all/some/or none of the speakers at random.

I will purchase a power conditioner regardless of this problem on your advice. It does have a headphone input. I will try that tonight. 

The speaker wire I am using is older and spliced in a few places. The speaker wire also goes underneath the house. If this doesn't work out I will rewire the speaker with new wire. If that doesn't work out I will purchase a newer receiver(200-500 range). 




http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/members/jaythorpe522-738631.html


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Sorry to hear of your continuing frustration...

A few more thoughts;

Is the unit properly ventilated? 

Have you opened it up and cleaned out the dust bunnies living inside? (Make sure to unplug first)

Have you checked the grounding of the outlets? (I'm not sure how to go about this but I'm sure someone here can tell us.)


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## Led (Jun 15, 2011)

@yustr The unit is well ventilated. I should probably clean the inside, as I haven't did that yet. From all outward appearances it is spotless. The outlet is an older style outlet without a ground. The unit is hooked up to a $50-60 6 outlet surge protector which is in turn hooked to a ground adapter. I don't have a outlet near the location of my setup with a ground. The adapter has a piece of metal that connects to the outlet via phillips screw.


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## Led (Jun 15, 2011)

@jaythorpe522 This morning I dug up the headphones and hooked them up. For some reason I couldn't get all the sound to channel through the headphones. I did however hear part of the sound and the popping was still present in the headphones. Does this mean the receiver is the problem?


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