Subwoofer hum..

[SuperDerpBro]

A year or so ago I bought a cheap 12in powered sub. It has a slight hum when turned on. Just enough to not be able to live with. :/

The seller refunded me but didn't make me ship it back. Is there anything I can do with it, or should i just recycle it?

Just a massive box taking up space heh :/

Cheers

 

[Speedskater]

does it hum without input signal cables connected?

 

[SuperDerpBro]

Yes. Just plugged in and turned on.

 

[Doodski]

Yes. Just plugged in and turned on.

Hmmmz, then the subwoofer has a bad signal ground internally or the power supply is noisy and not smoothing the AC power properly.

 

[SuperDerpBro]

Would it be a huge deal to find/install another plate amp? Could be a cool project... Or should i just recycle it?

 

[Doodski]

That's a matter of what is the cabinet/driver assembly worth to you versus a plate amp. Not sure where you could order from in Canada but I think Parts Express in The USA has that stuff.

Parts Express: Speakers, Amplifiers, Audio Parts and Solutions

Your Audio Solutions HQ Since 1986. Shop Audio Parts from Speakers and Subwoofers to Home Theater and Pro Audio. Top Gear at Low Prices and FREE Shipping

www.parts-express.com

 

[SuperDerpBro]

Recycle it is heh

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Recycle it is heh

Do you have a cat or a hamster?

 

[SuperDerpBro]

Make a lil home for a pet? lol

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Make a lil home for a pet? lol

Cats like boxes.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Hmmmz, then the subwoofer has a bad signal ground internally or the power supply is noisy and not smoothing the AC power properly.

I'm rather thinking mechanical transformer hum, which can be a real problem for inexpensive gear. It is very common for cheap transformers to be running slightly in saturation to squeeze more power out of them. (It results in high idle power consumption but works.) Then the hum should go away when undervolting the sub slightly on a Variac (thought I doubt the OP has one of those), or it would remain when disconnecting the driver.

Of course, cheap gear being what it is, we could also be looking at one or more duff filter crapacitors in the power supply, usually the secondary supply for the low-level stages.