Interference from TV on bass speaker (1 Viewer)

[Netmouse]

Hi, Yesterday I bought a Bose Companion 3 series 2 speaker set - a center bass amplifier/speaker and two titchy little ones. In the shop I said I wanted them to attach to the TV, and also to listen to my iPod. They attach via the headphone socket, so it should be easy to switch between the two. In the shop, they sounded pretty good. When we got them home, however, and attached them to our (7 year old non-flatscreen) TV, the results were very disappointing. The manual states that the large speaker should be "at least 6 inches" from a TV set, to avoid interference. However even at significantly more than this there is a continual low-pitched hum when the TV is on. The manual says it is not shielded. Is there anything we could do to sheild it ourselves, or have we been mis-sold? THe system does sound great with the iPod, however the main use was meant to be for the TV. If this isn't the right kind of solution for our needs, could anyone recommend what we really want? I don't really want to spend more than around £250. Many thanks!

 

[Al.Anderson]

We don't generally have a very high opinion of Bose around here. You can search on "Bose" and get the very negative vibe. So yeah, my reco would be to return it. The best suggestion I have without doing a price based search is this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Onkyo-HT-S5405-Receiver-Speaker-Pack/dp/B004V8LZC4/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1313918968&sr=1-4. The sound you're hearing could be a "ground loop" problem. So if you want to work with what you have you can try using a power outlet on another branch than your TV (not just a different outlet, but one on a different breaker). Also, make sure that all power cords are as far away from the audio cables as possible.

 

[Netmouse]

THanks v much, that's very helpful. A few things are going through my mind: 1. Would there be less interference with a flat screen TV? It seems amazing that people would put up with a product that routinely does this... 2. Is it normal for speakers not to be sheilded, or is this a cost cutting thing? (Which maybe wouldn't matter so much as a PC speaker, which I think they are primarily marketed as). 3. When we tried listening to the same music channel through the TV and through the ipod, the sound seemed significantly better with the ipod than the TV, even counting out the backgroung buzzing. Coudl it be that our very average TV just doesn't give a good enough signal through the headphone socket to get a decent audio from? (Is there any other affordable way of capturing the sound from live TV, DVD player, video player and ipod?) Many thanks

 

[Robert_J]

2. Shielding is magnetic shielding. That was big years ago when everyone was using a CRT (old fashioned) TV. The magnetic field would interfere with the TV. With the growing popularity of flat screens, shielding doesn't matter any more. 3. What other outputs does your TV have? Does this Bose system have it's own volume control or is it dependent on the source unit's volume?

 

[Netmouse]

THanks. I did mention in the shop that we had a non-flatscreen TV, so I feel I should have been warned... Oh well, I've taken it back now. In fact the ipod sounds best of all through my old hifi system (which is in a different room from the TV), when I feed it in through a cable from the headphone socket. So my current plan is to buy a good second hand amplifier and speakers from ebay that someone is replacing with a trendy modern system. I have a feeling I'd get better value for my £250.