Stellar S300 amp: hum with REL subs

Wonderful news!

Red and yellow to the same post then black to the chassis ground, right?

When I went to shut everything off last night, I turned off the amp first and the sub started humming again. Apparently, the amp has to be on to complete the ground for some reason, but when it is on, sub is dead quiet. Don’t know what that suggests, but it is the reason I initially thought the chassis ground idea had failed - I never turned the amp on, just heard the hum when I turned the sub on by itself. I can live with it – I’ll just have to turn the amp on first before switching on the sub. The sub does not go into standby when nothing is playing.

So, final, successful wiring configuration: Yellow to Left (+), Red to Right (+), and Black to chassis ground.

Hmmm…I have never used red to right yellow to left. They should go to the same post iirc. Mine are a different series, and I have had different amps, so you may be right for your set-up. I do have RELs though and have had them connected to PSA M1200s.

https://relsupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004649048-Stereo-Subs-Connection-Method

I seem to recall some discussion elsewhere on the forum that, once connected successfully, you have to keep the S300 powered up to prevent hum from REL T series subs. Or I guess I could have imagined it. I think most (or at least many) of us with solid state amps tend to leave them on anyway, unless we’re powering down the entire system, including the sub.

Glad it worked out. Yes, I should have mentioned the S300 needs to be flipped on.
@leean We have quite a high number of people running T series subs with the M700s. You have nothing to worry about. When connected properly, they work perfectly.

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@jamesh : yeah seem the hum issue can get away with that wireing config, but seem the Sub does not go standby when feeding nothing to it

SO this make me think of a order of turn on /off your entire system in case of sustaining or doing something
1/turn off sub -> 2/ turn off the power amp -> 3/ entire system
turn on system
1/ turn on the power amp -> 2/sub -> 3/rest of system
Some body can correct the order if wrong ?

I think both red and yellow in same post in one channel is for the dual sub, each of sub will work as mono sub.
i see on youtube they did that

Yes, per the manual, attaching both red & yellow to a single positive would be the correct configuration for mono block - not 2 channel.

Leean - your on/off sequence would be good – I think most importantly, sub is the last thing to be powered on, and first thing to be powered off.

Thanks to the PS folks, Leann, and everyone else who helped me work through it.

And, most importantly, now that all the set-up issues are resolved and I can focus on it – THE AMP SOUNDS GREAT !!

Awesome Dusty, enjoy!

Hi All,

I recently purchased the Stellar S300 (which I am loving) but I am having a hard time trying to get rid of the hum from my subwoofer (REL T9/i) when I put the S300 into standby. There is no hum from the sub when the S300 is powered on but as soon as I turn off the amp, there is what sounds like a ground loop hum. I’ve tried everything I can think of and everything I have been able to find online and would really appreciate some words of wisdom from anyone that has had the issue and managed to solve it. This is how it is connected and this is what I have tried:

  • The Rel sub is connected to the S300 via the high-level speakon connector, with the yellow and red wires going to the left and right positive terminals on the S300 and the black wire going to the ground point on the S300 (which I believe is a feature on the newer S300 units as it isn’t present on the demo unit at the shop which I purchase it from). This is the setup that produces the least amount of hum.

  • I have tried leaving the black wire unconnected but that makes the hum worse.

  • I’ve tried using a different power board thinking there may be an earthing problem.

  • I have tried lifting the earth on the sub only (removed the ground pin from the cable) and then lifting the earth on the amp only and then lifting both. Still it hums.

I’m at a loss as to how to fix the problem and/or whether there is an issue with the grounding on the S300. It doesn’t effect listening but it means I have to switch off the sub whenever I put the S300 into standby. Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome, amonmasters!

This thread should be of help. I suggest starting at the top and reading down.

It should have helped, but it didn’t. Seems no-one has actually fixed the issue properly and the only way to deal with it is to either switch both the sub and amp off or to leave the S300 on and set the sub to standby. It would be great if someone from PS Audio could explain why it is happening instead of “call Rel”.

@amonmasters

DustyYevski encountered the same issue as you did last couple days ( a week or more) on hum sound, the wiring spec you did correctly with the black wire connect to S300 chassis ground. However DustyYevski did not successed at the first try, he had to turn the system off and on again then the hum gone away as i remmenbered. when using PSA components , we are recommended to leave the devices on and they go into standby mode after some minutes idle.
Also you may try the turn on/off proceedures for maintainance or refresh the power grid, I think it may help, that quote can be found on this thread
Somebody on other forum reported the issue of the REL did not go into standby mode relating to this issue, but the HUM sound did go away, and we don’t need to turn off the PS Audio components when un-use, cuz they are designed to work that way.

Hope this help.

Hey @amonmasters -

I think I might have an idea as to what’s going on here, however, it’s kinda odd.

Let me start by saying this sounds very reminiscent of a quirk between BHK amps and REL subs. The main correlation I could draw between the Stellar amps and BHK amps is that they are both balanced design, as to which REL has a resistor kit that you wire up to the terminals of the amplifier to alleviate the issue of humming when the amp is off.

Email me at tjt@psaudio.com for some addition info and something we could send you to try.

Thanks!

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Apologies if you already tried it, but you didn’t mention connecting a single ended cable from an open jack in the system to the REL. This has resolved the issue for nearly every single REL and S300 user I’ve worked with.

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That is something I tried - if you’re talking about a single RCA-ended cable between open RCA connectors on the sub and the pre-amp. Didn’t kill the hum for me.

Jim Miller.

I also tried that and it didn’t work. Just to be clear, the Rel hum starts when the S300 is turned off. With everything on, there is no hum from the Rel and it works and sounds perfect. If the solution is to leave the S300 on at all times, then so be it, but it is a less than an ideal solution for equipment at this price point. Additionally, @Paul continually recommends Rel subs for use with PS Audio products and it seems rather strange that these issues haven’t be replicated and fixed given the praise he has for their products. I’m clearly not the first person to have come across this issue and the fact that there are many “possible” solutions makes me think that PS Audio doesn’t know what the actual issue is, nor how to fix it. I wouldn’t openly recommend pairing it with a Rel sub unless these types of issues have been rectified. Hoping that PS Audio can come up with a clear, documented fix for this as soon as possible.

Out of curiosity James do you know what the power draw is for the S300 and M700 switched on with no music playing? I have both (M700 Center, S300 Rears) and just leave them on all of the time, they don’t run hot or even warm really just being on all the time. At least if people knew it wasn’t a big draw they would feel comfortable leaving them on and then not having the hum issue