Help with buzz / hum that's making me insane r


I've recently realized that there's a very very subtle buzz or hum coming from the dome tweeters of BOTH of my Dali's that's audible if my ears are right next to them. Now before everyone says the tweeters are blown, let me take you through what I've done to analyze the situation (it could also be that I'm crazy):

Hooked up Dali's to a different amp using same front end, still hum
Hooked up different speakers to amp/front end, still hum
Swapped around ICs (I'm running balanced on DAC and Phono), still hum
Rewired system making sure PCs and ICs aren't touching, still hum
Hum is present with both vinyl and digital

The sound is still very, very good, but I can't help feel like on higher register vocals I can hear just a touch of distortion that I wasn't hearing before. Again, this is on both channels, and the sound is great, but vocals and highs have a small touch of rasp. I can't tell if this is me being crazy, because I can hear the hum from the dome tweeters when my ear is right next to them. Any ideas of ways to play around to see what the problem is.

I'm using shunyata PCs for the most part (one cardas) and a Hydra 6 into a Shunyata outlet. Help is greatly appreciated, as this is driving me nuts
mimberman

Showing 2 responses by rockvirgo

The hiss with your ear next to the dome tweeters means they are working. Agree with Herman it's not a malfunction. Advise you not increase the volume above normal listening levels to listen only to the hiss.

You can lift ground by adding a two prong cheater to the end of a three prong plug. So long as one component is properly grounded all the others linked via interconnects will share that ground. That's why if you did have hum, which sounds like you do not, the hum will persist even if the offending units are turned off but remain connected.

Dissatisfaction with the system's sound indeed indicates distortion. Surely it has nothing to do with your operating dome tweeters.

Enjoy that pretty room you have but move the carpet over so it's centralized equally between your speakers.
Fold the excess speaker cable concertina style (like an accordian) back and forth like a sine wave instead of round and round. Coiled wire behaves like an antenna or motor or something. Best of luck finding the sibilance.