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Reducing Intereference in Your Speakers?

Posted by Cliff on from the ditching-that-annoying-hum dept.

PolicyWonk asks: "I just bought a new stereo, a Sony CMT-EP707, into which I intend to plug my laptop when watching DVDs, and my iPod when listening to music. When I first turned the stereo on I was horrified to hear interference from a local radio station, as well as a general hum emanating from the speakers. The hum and the radio emissions are audible even when the stereo's volume is set to 'min' and irrespective of what setting the stereo is on (i.e. Tuner, CD, or MD), or what input is (or isn't) plugged into the stereo. (I have tried my laptop, iPod, and no input). That means that during a quiet pause in a movie, or the intro to a song, this background noise is clearly audible. No amount of moving the speakers around the room, or plugging the stereo into different grounded outlets seems to fix the problem. I've checked my outlets, and they appear to have a ground connection, but I live on the fifth story of a circa 1900 apartment building in Manhattan, so it's anyone's guess what happens to the wires once they are in the walls. Anyone have any good solutions for reducing or eliminating interference from nearby radio sources?"

3 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. RFI chokes by Kizzle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A fairly cheap method of reducing radio/TV signal interference involves just the opposite of "grounding". Go to your local Radio Shack store and get a bag full of "RFI chokes". They have several different shapes and sizes. They snap together and are supposed to be placed over wires and interconnect cables in order to prevent RF currents from flowing along the outside of the wires. You don't have to disconnect anything to install them. Just place them over the cables and snap them closed.

    --
    Hacker Media
    1. Re:RFI chokes by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, duct tape will look great wrapped all over the wires on my new G4.

      Not all of us build our computer desks out of sawhorses and discarded dining-room doors.

      - A.P.

      --
      "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  2. How-To by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.aca.gov.au/publications/info/cbradio.ht m

    Done. Now we can close this topic.