Radio Interference

[sailor bob]

Hey guys,

I have a set of Logitech z-5500 speakers, and while they might not be audiophile grade I thought this might be the best place to go to ask for help. I just moved and now live in direct line of sight of from three massive radio towers in Seattle that are only about 2000 feet away. I can turn my head and look right at them out the window, and as a result of that I am getting signal interference in my speakers. I have had this system for going on three years now and have never experienced a problem like this. I am a college student and have moved twice to different places in Seattle, but this is the first time I have encountered this problem.

My question is if anybody knows a cheap way to shield the system from the radio signals. I don't want to spend much money but it sure is annoying trying to listen to classical music while you can faintly hear a person talking out of the sub woofer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wgscott]

You can build a Faraday cage around the components. It would probably look really ugly and you won't ever get laid. Use copper wire screen.

 

Personally, I would move...

 

Straight speaker wire is more likely to act as an RF antenna than randomly coiled speaker wire. Try using an excess and wad it up a bit and see if that helps. Shielded speaker wire might help too.

 

[Mahesh]

Following up on wgscott's reply, you can implement a Faraday cage by wrapping your speakers with aluminum foil, like the type you use in the kitchen. I think it should be sufficient to leave the front uncovered, unless they are facing directly at the radio towers. It sure don't look pretty, but it's quick and cheap. No guarantee that it will fix your problems, though.

 

Good luck!

 

Mahesh

 

[wgscott]

Also, consider an aluminum foil hat

 

Neurophysiologic effects of Radiofrequency and Microwave Radiation, Bulletin of New York Academy of Medicine, vol. 55, no. 11,. December, 1979. p. 1079–1093.

 

 

 

[Mahesh]

Good point, wgscott! :-D

 

But I guess they would not be allowed to put up the radio towers if they have a proven negative effect on people's health. Or maybe I'm just too naive thinking that the government will look after it's citizens...?

 

Mahesh

 

[Bob Stern]

The best way to minimize RF pickup through the speaker cable is to use a twisted pair. Canare 4S11 "star quad" reputedly provides even better shielding. One vendor is Blue Jeans Cable.

 

An even cheaper solution might be to buy single-conductor 14-guage wire from Radio Shack and twist two lengths together to make a twisted pair.

 

[Bob Stern]

The best way to minimize RF pickup through the speaker cable is to use a twisted pair. Canare 4S11 "star quad" reputedly provides even better shielding. One vendor is Blue Jeans Cable.

 

An even cheaper solution might be to buy single-conductor 14-guage wire from Radio Shack and twist two lengths together to make a twisted pair.

 

[davidR]

If you are going to start wrapping stuff in aluminum foil you need to ground it or it either won't do anything or can actually act as an antenna and possibly make things worse. So buy another piece of wire and solder it to the foil or an easier way would be to use alligator clips and route it from the foil to the lug on your power conditioner (if you have one).