Sub Questions

[Bogarty]

First time poster here. I have owned an HSU STF 3 for the last … oh I’m guessing 5yrs or so. It's a fantastic sub and generally very happy with it. At some point over the last little while I noticed a problem with my sub. If I move the subwoofer cable while the receiver is turned on I get a loud hum from the sub. I checked the back of the sub and it does appear that the pin in which I plug the sub cable into is a little pushed to the side. Not sure how to fix this?

This leads me to the following...lately I’ve been feeling the need to upgrade my sub to something a little bit more but not sure with what.

My current system is as follows
Denon 3808CI
Axiom M80v3 Fronts
Axiom VP150 Centre
Axiom QS4’s Rears

The use of this would be about 70% HT and 30% music.

I live in a condo and my living room and dining room is one big area for the most part. Living room is about 16 by 10 with the dining room behind it about 10 x 12. So in practical terms my room is 16 x 20. It’s also open to my kitchen with an open counter.

I honestly don’t think I have room for two subs. The only way I could do that would be to sell my M80’s for something like M22’s and have them sit on top of the subs. However I really like my M80s in High Gloss Cherry.

I was looking at the VTF 3 MK4 but noticed that the woofer is placed on the right hand side when facing it. I have to place the sub next to my M80's and it would only be about 6 inches or so from the speaker. Is that enough clearance?

[Ryan_Hsu]

Hi Bogarty,

It sounds like your STF-3 has a grounding problem which is causing the loud hum. This grounding problem can be caused by a bad RCA cable which may have a loose connection, or the RCA input pin that you mentioned was slightly pushed to the side. I recommended trying a new/known good RCA cable and see if the problem persists; otherwise the force applied to the RCA input pin could have caused the solder connection to come loose on the amplifier.

The VTF-3 MK4 will be a nice improvement from your STF-3. You will have much lower extension, additional output and a nicer cabinet finish. 6 inches clearance from the woofer to another surface is plenty, but make sure you leave a few inches clearance for the ports in the back as well.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us.

Regards,
Ryan
The Hsu Research Team
985 N. Shepard Street
Anaheim, CA 92806
USA
714-666-9260

[Bogarty]

Thanks Ryan