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6010a - noises caused by voltage peaks

spec, muokattu 13 Vuodet sitten.

6010a - noises caused by voltage peaks

Youngling Viestejä: 4 Liittymispäivä: 18.6.2009 Viimeisimmät viestit
Hello everyone!

Since a few days I can call myself a proud owner of the genelec 6010a. I was looking for some serious active monitors for some customer demos, portable but still sophisticated sound. I was blown away by those "little bastards", surprise me everyday at the moment.

But sadly there is one problem ( and I don't know the exact english terms to describe the issue, i hope you all still get the idea): Not only you can discover unheared details in tracks, but also I am now able to hear each and every peak in the line voltage of our office. I have a click on every laptop turned on or someone else (de)plugging something in our building. I know about special power distributors with built-in filters and maybe the the power cabeling in our building is old and not compliant to a state of the art cabeling. But still I want to know if this behavior is normal, or is there an issue with the power supply of my 6010ers? I supposed there would be a interference suppression in the built-in power supply, or is this not the case with such high-end speakers as they rely on proper environments. I worry a little bit, because my idea was also to bring them to our stand at fairs and exhibitions, where i guess you get pretty dirty line voltage as well.

Thanks for your help!
stefan
christophe-anet, muokattu 13 Vuodet sitten.

Re: 6010a - noises caused by voltage peaks

Jedi Knight Viestejä: 188 Liittymispäivä: 23.3.2009 Viimeisimmät viestit
Hello Stefan,

Thanks for your post and question. The most common reasons for such click noises are related to either, signal cable connections/shielding (in that case the audio source is sending such spikes via the cable) or then a ground loop on the signal cable.

Assuming that the noise is only audible when there is an audio signal cable connected from a source to the 6010A, we face then unfortunately quite a normal situation. At trade shows, we often find such click problems if, say, a laptop power supply is connected in the replay system mains supply. In our trade show replay systems we have removed the problem of laptop supply generated noise by running audio signals to the loudspeakers through isolation transformers.

In general, products such as the 6010A that belongs to the category ‘safety class 2-devices’ do not have any ground loop problems, unlike some ‘safety class 1-devices’.

So, it would be good to perform some further check and testing on your system to locate the source of these clicks problems.

To start, remove the audio signal cable to find out if the loudspeaker itself generates such noise from its own mains voltage, or if the click noises are related to the audio signal connection itself or its cabling somehow.

Please let us know your findings. Thanks.

Best regards,
spec, muokattu 13 Vuodet sitten.

Re: 6010a - noises caused by voltage peaks

Youngling Viestejä: 4 Liittymispäivä: 18.6.2009 Viimeisimmät viestit
Hi!

Thanks for your quick reply! As you suggested I tried to disconnect the signal cable and couldn't observe any further click noises. So you where right about your guess.
What can i do about it now?

Best regards,
Stefan
ilkka-rissanen, muokattu 13 Vuodet sitten.

Re: 6010a - noises caused by voltage peaks

Yoda Viestejä: 2564 Liittymispäivä: 23.3.2009 Viimeisimmät viestit
Hi,

You should run the signal cables through an isolation transformer. Google for "ground loop isolator", and you should come up with several choices.

Please note that some noises can still come through, but it's definitely worth a try.

Best regards,
spec, muokattu 13 Vuodet sitten.

Re: 6010a - noises caused by voltage peaks

Youngling Viestejä: 4 Liittymispäivä: 18.6.2009 Viimeisimmät viestit
Hello!

Hmmm. I found some serious products and some low-cost noname ones. On the one hand there is a huge price difference (about 150 USD to 50 USD), and as I saw on the specifications there is of course a limited bandwidth. The bandwidth still covers the audible spectrum (sometimes with a lower band frequency of 40Hz), but now I am proud owner of classy monitors with a very nice frequency response and have to use some device which possibly scramble the frequency response on its own. Also the main feature seems to be the avoidance of ground loops and the related humming noise, which I don't experience. It's clicks and noises I hear if equipment in the building is turned on or off.
Despite the pricing of the monitors I am not very enthusiastic about spending another 150 USD on a isolation transformer. But there is no other possibility or can you recommend a certain one?

Best regards and thank you very much for your help so far!
Stefan
ilkka-rissanen, muokattu 13 Vuodet sitten.

Re: 6010a - noises caused by voltage peaks

Yoda Viestejä: 2564 Liittymispäivä: 23.3.2009 Viimeisimmät viestit
Hello,

There are some very cheap ones available for example at RadioShack (16.99 USD), but there can be some slight loss of audio performance.

The more expensive ones offer higher quality, but of course they also cost more. I could recommend a very high quality transformer from Jensen Transformers: http://www.jensen-transformers.com/ci2rr.html (177.95 USD).

Even though they are sometimes called ground loop isolators and are said to prevent hum, they should also help with the clicks and noises you are experiencing. Unfortunately I can't be 100% certain until you test one. Try to see if you could borrow one for a quick test before you buy anything too expensive.
spec, muokattu 13 Vuodet sitten.

Re: 6010a - noises caused by voltage peaks

Youngling Viestejä: 4 Liittymispäivä: 18.6.2009 Viimeisimmät viestit
Hello again!

Thanks a lot for your pointers! In the meantime I did some testing and determined the real evil in the audio chain responsible for the unwanted noises i experience. It's my Apple MacBook Pro (Unibody, late 2008) which generates those noises or is VERY sensitive to any voltage peaks on the line voltage and transmits it over the built-in audio jack! I tried it with several non-Apple audio sources (connected to line voltage) and played back some music - no noises at all!
Unfortunately it was not possible to find some confirmation on the web, as there is another audio problem about the socket, which spams the relevant keywords on google and i don't experience this issue.

I possibly will go for a audio -out firewire or usb device which hopefully should give me better frequency response than the built in DA converter and hopefully is resistant to the line voltage problems. This solution should be around the same price as a high quality transformer. Of course I will try it before buying.

Anyway, thank you Genelec support team! Your support is equally professional and good as your speakers! Keep on the good work.

Bye,
Stefan