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Peculiar problem? Show me the light...

OK, I'm going to try and explain this as best as I can. I don't usually listen at mega volumes so this has not been noticed before. My Revel M20s can handle just about anything I put through them, and my subwoofer picks up the base inadequacies. There are some pieces of music that have tremendous base punch, and at very loud volumes I hear my Revels cracking up. Not my sub, but the M20s. Both speakers. If I turn down the volume gain from the neutral setting, on my subwoofer, the crackling goes away in the M20s. It's wierd. If I play the same piece of music with the sub off, I can play at prodigious volumes with no crackling at all. How can my self-powered sub, effect what's coming out of my speakers. I have it hooked up via the preout from my integrated. The sound, otherwise, is wonderful, but at the loudest levels with some powerful transient response type stuff, it'll crackle. I hope I'm explaining this properly. This is a very livable situation, for I just, in a blue moon, crank it up to satiate a sonic desire, sometimes. And it doesn't happen with most music. Anybody have any ideas? You might need more information, so hit me. Thanks in advance my audiophool friends. warren
Here's my system:
YBA Passion Integre
Micromega CDP
Sufire Architectural sub
Revel M20s
Audio Magic Stealth
Cardas GR Ics.
Sistrum Rack system
Sistrum Mini Monitor speaker stands
Sistrum Subwoofer stand
128x128warrenh

Showing 3 responses by sidssp

sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Warren,

I don’t think the Revel produced the cracking noise. I believe your sub might have triggered some sort of vibration or resonance in the surrounding of the Revel, perhaps the join between the speaker and its stand, or the furniture nearby. The vibration was most likely airborne at very low frequency. That is why the cracking noise went away when you turned the sub down or ran the Revel by itself.

I had a similar problem a few months ago. After I upgraded to a pair of Vandersteen model 5, every time I played the Titanic CD track 1, the deep bass would cause my left speaker to buzz. At first, I thought the speaker was defected but when I walked close to it, the buzz disappeared, I then walked back to the listening chair and the buzz came back. It only happened on one or two CDs at certain volume level. I later put a pair of 16” Tube Trap at the front corners to control bass boom and the buzz went away forever. I still don’t know what was buzzing.

I hope this help.
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Warren,

This is interesting. Now you got me thinking. I plugged both the Vandy 5 and a Theta Dreadnaught into a 20A line because the Vandies have less hums this way. Now I remember it did seem to be less dynamic than when the Vandies were in separate outlets. I am going to test it out tonight. The Integre must be very sensitive to voltage drop. You might want to install a 20A line just for it.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Warren,

I suggest you hire an electrician to do the job. The cost will vary depending on where you live and the complexity of your situation. I had one done for about $150 in New York area. But my installation was simple; the outlet and the circuit breaker were on the same side of the house and they were only 30 feet apart. The job was also part of a larger one and that saved me some label costs.

At a minimum, you should use 20A hospital grade outlet with #10 all copper wires. The next step up will be to put the wires in steel conduits or use shielded cables. I prefer steel conduit because it also protects the wires from harmful elements. You can also get some audiophile grade outlets but I don’t think it is essential.

Despite what others might suggest, do NOT install a separate ground rod for the dedicated line unless you are going to plug all the equipment to the same ac line. The potential ground loop problem caused by multiple earth grounds are very difficult to solve and might cause safety concerns.

BTW, I tried different outlets with the Vandies last night, the change in dynamic was hardly noticeable but the hums were. I decided to plug them back to the 20A line with the amp.

I hope this helps.
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