Re: [H] Radio stations coming out of my home theater speakers

[Julian Zottl]

Lmao, you got away with that? I had digital and analog in my undergrad and 
masters in EE ;)

The longer the cable, the more it’s going to pick up, definitely. That explains 
why the rears are picking up more.

Well, if no other sources are hooked up, I can only think of two things:
1) power cable coming in. If it has an attenuated signal, as the amps increase 
for the additional load they are amplifying it to the speakers. UPS would solve 
that. 
2) Since you speaker wire isn’t shielded (I take it), you could try adding 
ferrites to a speaker wire and see what happens. I also assume they are not 
near any power lines that could be carrying the signal.

Cool on DC! I know Brian S was lgood cal for a long time, not sure if he still 
is.

Btw, the guys over at AVSForum might have ideas too.


Sent from my iProduct, cause I'm iSpecial But not in that iShort Bus kind 
of way...

> On Jan 6, 2018, at 2:57 PM, Brian Weeden  wrote:
> 
> Hi Julian. This is why I stuck to the digital side of EE in college. RF is
> just damn black magic :)
> 
> Yes. Disconnecting everything and it's gone. Reconnecting just the center
> channel, and there's no sound. But as soon as I add the L and R fronts,
> it's back, very faint. Adding in the side surrounds makes it stronger, and
> then rears stronger yet. Seems without the side surrounds its very faint.
> Still there, but tolerable.
> 
> Here's what I don't get. I made my front channels (L,R,C) all the same
> length, but they're not the same length as the surround sides, which
> themselves are a different length from the rears. So what are the odds that
> I made them all some resonance of 199.9 meters?
> 
> Ideas for solutions? There's gotta be a way to filter this out?
> 
> And yes, we've lived in the DC area since 2011. Moved to just north of
> Silver Spring about 18 months ago. Wife and I both work in DC.
> 
> 
> 
> -
> Brian
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jan 6, 2018 at 11:42 AM, Julian Zottl 
> wrote:
> 
>> Hey Brian,
>> I take it the sound isn’t there when the speakers are not plugged in to
>> the receiver?
>> 
>> There could be lots of reasons for it unfortunately. I would try (I know
>> it’s annoying) everything, then just plug in the F center speaker and turn
>> the receiver on with nothing else connected. If you hear something, then it
>> could be the receiver has an issue. Try plugging in one source and see if
>> there is sound. Then I’d add the speakers one by one and see if the sound
>> comes back. After that, I’d start adding in the sources.
>> 
>> Hopefully that helps you track down the source of the issue. I know it
>> sounds crazy, but you might be hitting a harmonic on one of your cables.
>> 1500AM = 199.9 meter wavelength. If one of your cables is multiplier of
>> that, you could literally have set yourself up a nice antenna for that
>> station, which would feed back in to your receiver.
>> 
>> Where in DC are you? I’m out in Ashburn :)
>> 
>> Take care,
>> Julian
>> 
>> Sent from my iProduct, cause I'm iSpecial But not in that iShort Bus
>> kind of way...
>> 
>>> On Jan 6, 2018, at 10:45 AM, Brian Weeden 
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I know this isn't a computer question, but figured there might be some on
>>> the list who have some expertise that can help me figure out this pesky
>>> question.
>>> 
>>> Two years ago we remodeled our basement, and I ran speaker cables for a
>> 7.1
>>> setup. I used good quality 14AWG CL2 cable, and HDMI for the video.
>>> Everything goes back to a Yamaha A/V receiver.
>>> 
>>> Almost immediately I noticed that there was faint sounds coming from the
>>> speakers unrelated to what was playing. It's gotten worse over time, to
>> the
>>> point where now it is clearly identifiable as WFED AM 1500 radio station,
>>> about 10 miles away. It's loud and clear to the point where the radio is
>>> just as loud as the source audio with volume set to -40 dB, and if the
>>> volume is set lower than that the radio is louder. The radio comes
>> through
>>> no matter what I seem to do. Muting the A/V receiver, switching inputs,
>>> it's still there.
>>> 
>>> Clearly there's some sort of interference going on, but I can't seem to
>>> identify the source. It comes through all the speakers at about equal
>>> level, suggesting it's being broadcast and amplified from the receiver
>> and
>>> not just randomly being picked up by the wires. The wires are not
>>> extraordinarily long - about 20 ft for the rear surrounds. I actually had
>>> the same receiver in a previous house that was much closer to the radio
>>> station, but didn't have any problems. All the inputs to the receiver are
>>> HDMI (Fios TV box, HTPC, WiiU), so it's hard to see how they could be
>>> picking up interference.
>>> 
>>> Thoughts? Suggestions?
>>> 
>>> -
>>> Brian
>> 

Re: [H] Radio stations coming out of my home theater speakers

[Brian Weeden]

Hi Julian. This is why I stuck to the digital side of EE in college. RF is
just damn black magic :)

Yes. Disconnecting everything and it's gone. Reconnecting just the center
channel, and there's no sound. But as soon as I add the L and R fronts,
it's back, very faint. Adding in the side surrounds makes it stronger, and
then rears stronger yet. Seems without the side surrounds its very faint.
Still there, but tolerable.

Here's what I don't get. I made my front channels (L,R,C) all the same
length, but they're not the same length as the surround sides, which
themselves are a different length from the rears. So what are the odds that
I made them all some resonance of 199.9 meters?

Ideas for solutions? There's gotta be a way to filter this out?

And yes, we've lived in the DC area since 2011. Moved to just north of
Silver Spring about 18 months ago. Wife and I both work in DC.



-
Brian


On Sat, Jan 6, 2018 at 11:42 AM, Julian Zottl 
wrote:

> Hey Brian,
> I take it the sound isn’t there when the speakers are not plugged in to
> the receiver?
>
> There could be lots of reasons for it unfortunately. I would try (I know
> it’s annoying) everything, then just plug in the F center speaker and turn
> the receiver on with nothing else connected. If you hear something, then it
> could be the receiver has an issue. Try plugging in one source and see if
> there is sound. Then I’d add the speakers one by one and see if the sound
> comes back. After that, I’d start adding in the sources.
>
> Hopefully that helps you track down the source of the issue. I know it
> sounds crazy, but you might be hitting a harmonic on one of your cables.
> 1500AM = 199.9 meter wavelength. If one of your cables is multiplier of
> that, you could literally have set yourself up a nice antenna for that
> station, which would feed back in to your receiver.
>
> Where in DC are you? I’m out in Ashburn :)
>
> Take care,
> Julian
>
> Sent from my iProduct, cause I'm iSpecial But not in that iShort Bus
> kind of way...
>
> > On Jan 6, 2018, at 10:45 AM, Brian Weeden 
> wrote:
> >
> > I know this isn't a computer question, but figured there might be some on
> > the list who have some expertise that can help me figure out this pesky
> > question.
> >
> > Two years ago we remodeled our basement, and I ran speaker cables for a
> 7.1
> > setup. I used good quality 14AWG CL2 cable, and HDMI for the video.
> > Everything goes back to a Yamaha A/V receiver.
> >
> > Almost immediately I noticed that there was faint sounds coming from the
> > speakers unrelated to what was playing. It's gotten worse over time, to
> the
> > point where now it is clearly identifiable as WFED AM 1500 radio station,
> > about 10 miles away. It's loud and clear to the point where the radio is
> > just as loud as the source audio with volume set to -40 dB, and if the
> > volume is set lower than that the radio is louder. The radio comes
> through
> > no matter what I seem to do. Muting the A/V receiver, switching inputs,
> > it's still there.
> >
> > Clearly there's some sort of interference going on, but I can't seem to
> > identify the source. It comes through all the speakers at about equal
> > level, suggesting it's being broadcast and amplified from the receiver
> and
> > not just randomly being picked up by the wires. The wires are not
> > extraordinarily long - about 20 ft for the rear surrounds. I actually had
> > the same receiver in a previous house that was much closer to the radio
> > station, but didn't have any problems. All the inputs to the receiver are
> > HDMI (Fios TV box, HTPC, WiiU), so it's hard to see how they could be
> > picking up interference.
> >
> > Thoughts? Suggestions?
> >
> > -
> > Brian
>

Re: [H] Radio stations coming out of my home theater speakers

[Winterlight]

Have you tried hooking up another receiver just to determine if it is 
the receiver or the wiring. When you ran your speaker wires were they 
at least 12 inches away from power wires?


At 08:45 AM 1/6/2018, you wrote:

I know this isn't a computer question, but figured there might be some on
the list who have some expertise that can help me figure out this pesky
question.

Re: [H] Radio stations coming out of my home theater speakers

[Julian Zottl]

Hey Brian,
I take it the sound isn’t there when the speakers are not plugged in to the 
receiver?

There could be lots of reasons for it unfortunately. I would try (I know it’s 
annoying) everything, then just plug in the F center speaker and turn the 
receiver on with nothing else connected. If you hear something, then it could 
be the receiver has an issue. Try plugging in one source and see if there is 
sound. Then I’d add the speakers one by one and see if the sound comes back. 
After that, I’d start adding in the sources.

Hopefully that helps you track down the source of the issue. I know it sounds 
crazy, but you might be hitting a harmonic on one of your cables. 1500AM = 
199.9 meter wavelength. If one of your cables is multiplier of that, you could 
literally have set yourself up a nice antenna for that station, which would 
feed back in to your receiver.

Where in DC are you? I’m out in Ashburn :)

Take care,
Julian

Sent from my iProduct, cause I'm iSpecial But not in that iShort Bus kind 
of way...

> On Jan 6, 2018, at 10:45 AM, Brian Weeden  wrote:
> 
> I know this isn't a computer question, but figured there might be some on
> the list who have some expertise that can help me figure out this pesky
> question.
> 
> Two years ago we remodeled our basement, and I ran speaker cables for a 7.1
> setup. I used good quality 14AWG CL2 cable, and HDMI for the video.
> Everything goes back to a Yamaha A/V receiver.
> 
> Almost immediately I noticed that there was faint sounds coming from the
> speakers unrelated to what was playing. It's gotten worse over time, to the
> point where now it is clearly identifiable as WFED AM 1500 radio station,
> about 10 miles away. It's loud and clear to the point where the radio is
> just as loud as the source audio with volume set to -40 dB, and if the
> volume is set lower than that the radio is louder. The radio comes through
> no matter what I seem to do. Muting the A/V receiver, switching inputs,
> it's still there.
> 
> Clearly there's some sort of interference going on, but I can't seem to
> identify the source. It comes through all the speakers at about equal
> level, suggesting it's being broadcast and amplified from the receiver and
> not just randomly being picked up by the wires. The wires are not
> extraordinarily long - about 20 ft for the rear surrounds. I actually had
> the same receiver in a previous house that was much closer to the radio
> station, but didn't have any problems. All the inputs to the receiver are
> HDMI (Fios TV box, HTPC, WiiU), so it's hard to see how they could be
> picking up interference.
> 
> Thoughts? Suggestions?
> 
> -
> Brian

[H] Radio stations coming out of my home theater speakers

[Brian Weeden]

I know this isn't a computer question, but figured there might be some on
the list who have some expertise that can help me figure out this pesky
question.

Two years ago we remodeled our basement, and I ran speaker cables for a 7.1
setup. I used good quality 14AWG CL2 cable, and HDMI for the video.
Everything goes back to a Yamaha A/V receiver.

Almost immediately I noticed that there was faint sounds coming from the
speakers unrelated to what was playing. It's gotten worse over time, to the
point where now it is clearly identifiable as WFED AM 1500 radio station,
about 10 miles away. It's loud and clear to the point where the radio is
just as loud as the source audio with volume set to -40 dB, and if the
volume is set lower than that the radio is louder. The radio comes through
no matter what I seem to do. Muting the A/V receiver, switching inputs,
it's still there.

Clearly there's some sort of interference going on, but I can't seem to
identify the source. It comes through all the speakers at about equal
level, suggesting it's being broadcast and amplified from the receiver and
not just randomly being picked up by the wires. The wires are not
extraordinarily long - about 20 ft for the rear surrounds. I actually had
the same receiver in a previous house that was much closer to the radio
station, but didn't have any problems. All the inputs to the receiver are
HDMI (Fios TV box, HTPC, WiiU), so it's hard to see how they could be
picking up interference.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

-
Brian