Strange Voices from RM6800 Subwoofer

Nittany

I recently purchased a Polk RM6800 Home Theater Speaker System and hooked it up to my Yamaha RXV-650 receiver. Tremendous sound when watching a DVD or even Direct TV through the system, BUT the subwoofer continually produces low-level noises which are not part of the programming being viewed/listened to, and which become louder when I touch the back panel of the subwoofer unit with my hand.

When watching/listening to programming at normal volume, the voices are "drowned out" by the main program, but during quiet portions of a show, you can still hear the muffled/garbled noises coming from the subwoofer unit.

When touching the subwoofer unit, the sounds become loud enough to reveal it is people talking, but I have yet to figure out if it is from a radio or television broadcast or perhaps a neighbor's cordless or cellular phone. I'm leaning towards the radio/television broadcast because these voices continue non-stop, 24/7 ... even when I have the Yamaha powered down and the DirectTV receiver unit disconnected.

The only way that I have discovered so far to "stop the voices" is to remove power from the subwoofer unit ... obviously not an acceptable permanent solution.

Appreciate any assistance in troubleshooting this problem.

maggiefan

It's the dreaded "baby monitor" syndrome! Or it's just haunted. Seriously, it sounds like some kind of RF interference, maybe someone here can offer some possible remedys.

[Deleted User]

Hello Nittnay,
I agree it does sound like RF interference. What connecting method are you using to connect the receiver to the sub-woofer? A coaxial cable or speaker wire? If a coaxial cable, is it a shielded type cable?
It sounds as though either an FM or AM radio station's signal is being picked up and given to the amplifier section of your sub-woofer. The first step is to determine the path that the RF is using to reach the unit.
Regards, Ken, Polk Audio

Nittany

Currently using 12 g speaker wire, but the guy we purchased the house from had the walls of this room absolutely pakced with RG-6 coax. There are several cables for CATV, some for DirectTV, some used as component video cable to carry video signals to a ceiling mounted projector, and probably even a bunch that I'm not aware of.

I do know that not all of the cables are active or in use ... is it possible that some of these inactive/unused cables would be the source of the signals ... like a giant coiled antenna in the walls and ceiling?

Again ... appreciate any advice on this issue.

PolkThug

Try plugging the sub in, in a different room and see if it does the same thing.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Rather than use the speaker wire to connect your sub-woofer, try using one of the shielded RG6 cables. You will probably need to place RCA connectors on both ends, but this kind of connection should reduce the RF interference. You would then want to connect from the receiver's sub-out connection to the line level input on the sub-woofer.
Ken

Nittany

Do I then connect the front speakers directly to the rcvr as well, or do I leave them connected through the Sub as "recommended" in the RM8600 manual?

Please advise.

PolkThug

Connect the front speakers directly to the receiver.

Nittany

Went ahead and attempted to hook the rcvr up to the subwoofer using the "line in" inputs, but found the Yamaha RXV-650 only has one RCA subwoofer output jack and the RM6800 subwoofer has 2 RCA input jacks (L & R). So I attempted the hookup using only one of the sub's inputs ... first with the "L" input and then with the "R" input.


THE GOOD NEWS ... the voices stopped.

THE BAD NEWS ... When hooked up to only one of the Sub's inputs, I don't seem to get the type of performance out of the sub I had previously gotten ... thunderous bass, but fairly distorted. This type of setup also generated errors while running the RXV-650's "YPAO" auto setup program ... reporting a "wiring level error" which the rcvr's owner's manual defines as "inappropriate/excessive differences in the volume levels between attached speakers". Had never gotten this error when the sub was connected in the previous manner.

2 NEW QUESTIONS ... what is the appropriate/recommended way to connect this one rcvr output to the 2 sub inputs ... or do I simply leave it connected to only one of the sub's inputs? Also, is it an expected result of this type of hookup for the sub's bass to significantly more distorted than the previous hookup method?

Airplay355

to answer your bad news, get a y splitter and make sure the crossover on the sub is turned all the way up, meaningif 150 is the highest then put it on 150. then click your heels together and wish your sub was bigger.

dorokusai

I see dead people.

halo

doro - Are you still hearing the little screams from inside your SVS?

dorokusai

Yes, and they are telling me to kill.

halo

Follow the advice and you'll see MORE dead people

Nittany

Been out of town and finally got back to try proposed solution ... and it has solved the problem!

No more voices and the sound quality of the sub is back to where it was when hooked up IAW the manual.

Thx to all those who provided input into this troubleshooting session.

ldi

Nittany wrote:

Been out of town and finally got back to try proposed solution ... and it has solved the problem!

No more voices and the sound quality of the sub is back to where it was when hooked up IAW the manual.

Thx to all those who provided input into this troubleshooting session.

Could you please tell your solutions in detail? From what I understand,
- Use RCA cable with Y splitter to connect sub out from receiver to both L/R line-in on subwoofer
- Set X-over to the biggest number

Am i right? Thanks :rolleyes: