[goonstopher]

EDIT - anyone with electrical knowledge please skip to the 9th post after reading this


I got my first JTR Captivator and WOW is all I can say -BUT- it sustained a decent amount of shipping damage. I fixed some of the cosmetic damage and it seemed ok but I took off the passive radiator to check the woofer which also seems ok eccept for a hum/white noise issue.


At first it was a bad and very loud hum that was volume sensitive, it even seemed to clack the sub. It was not as bad as when you plug in an interconnect with the sub turned on but very distracting and the clacking noise was scary at times. I even swapped out the amps to make sure it was not defective.


I got rid of almost all of the hum with a cheater plug and was left with a reasonable loud white noise. I tested things out and found out my samson s-converter was causing much of the white noise. I moved it to the same circuit as my sub amp and disconnected the coaxial cable for the television cable. These two combined made the white noise much less but that seemed to be from there being no volume or signal. Since the s-converter was either causing or magnifying the issue I took it out of the loop and put the cable back on and player comcast digital music then the white noise came back.

Oddly when I had no signal going into it (just amp plugged into the wall and the sub) I had no white noise.


What the heck can I do?


Could the sub be causing it from the the shipping damage?

 

[brandonnash]

May not be. Try plugging everything back in as it should be, but unplug your cable line. The coax cable line that runs to the wall. See if that takes care of the hum. The clacking is a different issue. That doesn't sound good. That could be any number of issues. Were there any holes knocked in the enclosure?

 

[croseiv]

As far as the clacking, it sounds like there could be something up with the sub's amp gain (to high somehow?). Is anything damaged around the amp area?


It does seem as if the source of the white noise could be upstream from the sub.

 

[goonstopher]

Sorry my post was long.


I tried the coax unplugged and it only helped in that it had no signal going through it. when it was plugged in and had nothing playing it made no difference in the white noise level so I would say it is not a 60hz loop.


The sub does not clack now, it was very odd it was only when it was humming very loud and almost impercievable like when your ears ring and you know its not really a sound but you still hear it. That is the only way to describe it and my gf noticed it too. That was also happening with the passive radiator on which I have since taken off to inspect the sub.


I do not see any deep damage. There was a crack on the bottom along the slot port which only seemed to be pant deep but it was right next to the main damaged corner. I have a picture of that corner if you like. There were also 2 dings on the back which are nothing to mention.

 

[goonstopher]



Quote:
Originally Posted by croseiv /forum/post/18174863


As far as the clacking, it sounds like there could be something up with the sub's amp gain (to high somehow?). Is anything damaged around the amp area?


It does seem as if the source of the white noise could be upstream from the sub.

The sub does not have an onboard amp, it is passive. I tried an ep2500 and an ep4000. I have used an ep2500 in the same outlet and did not get the white noise and did not need the cheater plug for the hum.


I tested every component and the s-converter makes it worse but I am not clear if it is simply from amplifying the signal or the units inclusion itself.

 

[brandonnash]

The s convert is a gain booster. It won't help with any hum. If anything it will make it sound louder. How do you have it hooked up from your receiver? The amp I mean. Using a rca-xlr cable? If so you may want to open up that cable and run a ground wire to a negative speaker outlet on the receiver from the xlr side. I had to do that with mine and hum gone.



The crack in the enclosure...is it big enough to let any air through? If so that may be causing it to act as a very small port and whatever frequency you are getting a "tuning" at from that crack, anything below that frequency will bottom the driver if driven too hard. Have you inquired about an exchange from jtr?

 

[trolly]

I would not keep it if it arrived damaged

 

[goonstopher]



Quote:
Originally Posted by brandonnash /forum/post/18175297


The s convert is a gain booster. It won't help with any hum. If anything it will make it sound louder. How do you have it hooked up from your receiver? The amp I mean. Using a rca-xlr cable? If so you may want to open up that cable and run a ground wire to a negative speaker outlet on the receiver from the xlr side. I had to do that with mine and hum gone.



The crack in the enclosure...is it big enough to let any air through? If so that may be causing it to act as a very small port and whatever frequency you are getting a "tuning" at from that crack, anything below that frequency will bottom the driver if driven too hard. Have you inquired about an exchange from jtr?

Sorry this is long but it could be important EDIT - Post below this one might make more sense of it... please help if you know electric.


That is what I meant - the s-converter seems to make it worse but I think it is only because it increases the gain but I can't really confirm that. I have the receiver going into an as-eq1 then then split out to a reckhorn b-1 and then into the s-converter where it turns into an XLR to the amp. Since I took the s-converter out I simply have a long rca with a 1/4 adapter pin.


This is odd because it does not seem to be a ground hum. The amp is plugged in with a cheater plug on one circuit and the receiver is the only device in the look with a ground and it is on another circuit and the outlet it is in does not even have a ground wire (I opened the housing to check).


Before I had this issue the receiver was plugged into the outlet right next to the one it is on now and that one has a ground (odd thing is they dont seem to be bridged like you would suspect). That line blew somehow when I was working with a wire and zapped myself. The outlets died but the one half an inch from it (that the receiver, reckhorn, as-eq1) are no continued working fine and the circuit never even tripped. I changed the outlet that broke and it is still out. The circuit has never tripped so the wire must have been damaged up stream. Maybe that one with the ground carried the ground for both outlets???

 

[goonstopher]

Do outlets on the same circuit have to be connected before the breaker?


Generally they use the extra 2 plugs to bridge to the others but can they be links before that through a splice? If so would the one at the end of the chain have the ground?


I think that is what happened here. I somehow fried the bridge that branches off to the second outlet while the main line goes into the one that is still working and the source electronic are plugged into. That first and current outlet does not have a ground wire.


Since the circuit did not break and this outlet never flinched when I fried the second one, this is the only relationship that makes sense.


Would eliminating the ground wire down stream (probably connected circuit) induce some hum? Could the burnt wire itself be introducing an artifact?


If I get an electrician through a friend I want to make ti as easy as possible and make sure I know the fix the best i can because money is tight and if I can make it easy then I figure I may get a deal. I figure I should not fix it because if it needs to get into cutting drywall (if the bridge is behind the boxes) then that gets beyond my comfort.

 

[bluesky636]



Quote:
Originally Posted by trolly /forum/post/18175479


I would not keep it if it arrived damaged

Got to agree. Why are you wasting time on a clearly damaged/defective sub? If the damage was visible when you received it, you should have refused delivery. If it was deleivered while you were out, you should have immediately contacted the shipper and manufacturer and filed a claim.

 

[goonstopher]



Quote:
Originally Posted by trolly /forum/post/18175479


I would not keep it if it arrived damaged

Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesky636 /forum/post/18177162


Got to agree. Why are you wasting time on a clearly damaged/defective sub? If the damage was visible when you received it, you should have refused delivery. If it was deleivered while you were out, you should have immediately contacted the shipper and manufacturer and filed a claim.

Let's move past that. It was packaged well and built like a tank. It was minor, lets focus on the electrical issue.