QuestionQUESTION: I have a 7.2 system that just started popping, for no apparent reason. It is a klipsch RF-7 II reference system, with velodyne subs. They are connected to a sunfire tga-7401 amp, that is connected to a yamaha Rx-a3000. This system was installed approximately 4 months ago, and has been running fine for the most part. I have a panamax m7500 pro signal conditioner that the yamaha is plugged into. I do not push the system at any time, with the volume at most going -25db, and not any louder. When the popping first occurred, the system was turned off, with power only on the panamax. The popping just started at 2am one day, when we were all asleep, which sounded like someone was beating on the walls downstairs. The popping has continued ever since, and occurred at random intervals, no matter if I was watching a movie, tv, or playing a game. I tried changing out the power conditioner with another one I had, which was a cheaper model, but the popping started up right away. I am trying to figure out what it could possibly be, as I am not quite sure where to start.
thanks for you help.
ANSWER: You must find out where the "popping" is coming from.
- Is it coming out of the speaker(s)? If so, which one(s)? Does it stop when the amp is turned off?
- Is it coming from inside one of the boxes? If so, which one. By listening close you should be able to tell which unit has the "popping" sounds. When you find it, unplug the power cord of that unit and verify it goes away.
- Chances are the unit with the "popping" sound inside has a power supply failure of some kind.
Go that far and let me know what you have found and we can take it the next step.
Await results of the first round of investigation.
PS: Also, tell me the nature of the "popping" sound. What is its repetitive rate and how loud is it? Does it sound like it has any bass or booming sound with it or just high frequency popping? Snapping sound? Sizzle? Etc.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: A strange thing happened. I kept the system off for a couple days, with the other power conditioner still connected. I then turned the system back on, and it has been on for a couple days. The system has not had the popping issue anymore, as far as I can tell. Not sure what happened to cause it to stop.
The popping was coming from all speakers, although I do not hear anything from the subs. The amp was turned off at the time the popping was happening. It continued when everything was turned back on. I will try to disconnect each device when the system starts popping again to see when the popping stops.
The popping sound was pretty loud, as you could hear it throughout the house. It was sort of sizzle, snapping sound, not really high pitched nor booming, but more midrange, just loud.
thanks for trying to help me figure this out.
AnswerThanks for the update. It is hard to imagine the speakers emitting noise of any kind when the drive amplifiers were off. If so, it implies some kind of wiring mix up that would allow electrical energy to be conducted through the speaker wires. I can't imagine what that would be unless the power conditioner wiring is somehow inductively or electrically co-mingled with the speaker wiring network. Is that possible? And, then we would need to look at the power conditioner you are using (which devices I have suspect in all cases - I tend to think we are better off without them unless you live in a known unstable power source area - but most power lines are very stable throughout the USA). It may be worth eliminating the power cruncher from your system as a test if the noises come back on.
Rgds,
cleggsan
