cheers for the reassurance mate, i emailed them yesterday & recieved a reply today which was good customer service, but im thinking as i've only had these a couple of days its probably easier to send them back to the supplier i got them from for a refund or replacement, its just the ballache of trying to get the things back in the box & cost to return them as there quite heavy, i was hoping it just might be something silly i've not connected properly, but every speaker i try in the rear speaker output on the sub makes this crackling sound like a radio station not tuned in & its hearable from the otherside of the room, its definately not my sound card as its same with the input cables not connected to my pc, cheers