Hum in system from interconnects???


I have some 21' kimber hero rca I am using for interconnects to my quicksilver v4 amps. When I turn on the amps they are quiet till I plug in the kimbers. If they are not connected to my preamp just hanging there the amp hums quite loud untill I plug it in to the pre amp then they quiet up but still have a slight hum in the system. What is going on?

Should they hum if they are not plugged in to anything first off? I have tried grounds power connditioners etc. Is it just the cables is the run to long for rca? This also happens downstairs in my HT with a adcom solid state amp and kimber tonic 21' interconnects but it doesn't bug me as much.
programmergeek
Same trouble two locations,two different cables.
Plus cable is making ground and dropping noise level.
Are there many light dimmers there?
Yea I have some also the one location I have a monster 5100 power conditioner and a power max on the other one is all tubes the other is all solid state. Wondering if it is the innerconnects? do other peoples amps hum when just a long interconnect plugged in.
Regarding the length of you interconnects, I've always been advised by the brick and mortor stores that this is too long. I've listened to several systems using lenghts greater than this and have since changed my mind. In all the cases where long lenghts were run in a carefully laid out system it sounded great. If you have tried lifting the grounds, ect. without success then I would suggest turning things off around the house until you've found the culprit. Florescent lights even in another room can contribute to hum. Good luck.
I had this same problem with my Hafler DH-200 and any length interconnect. Turned out the body of one of my RCA input jacks had come into contact with the metal chassis. As soon as I got the jack isolated, all hum ceased.

David
What you describe is possible. By removing the I/C's from the preamp, the shielding path is broken and the I/C's pick up external RF and EM fields. If there's a loud hum, the amplifier is probably leaking a small amount of current to ground. You can check this by unplugging the I/C's to the amplifer, and see if there's humming at the speakers. If the hum is almost as loud or very noticeable, check to see that the input tubes and/or rectifer tubes are good. If the hum is only noticeable with your ear close to the speaker, then the amp is okay.

Next, connect the I/C's to the amp and preamp. If the hum is louder, then you have a ground loop problem. In addition to the suggestions above, try plugging the amps and source equipment into just one of your power conditioners and see if the hum decreases. The way you're set up now is ideal for ground loops - especially with long, unbalanced I/C's.

BTW: please make sure the amp and source equipment are off before you unplug or plug anything. Good luck and happy hunting - unfortunately, that's what tracking down a ground loop is.
ok here it is.
all are on the same outlet.
when interect is removed compleatly from amp no hum
when pluggen into just amp loud hum
when plugged into pre amp and amp low hum (this is normal)

could be the power is there anything that will totally isolate the power?
Just a thought, if I remember right the Kimber Hero is not a shielded cable, is that correct. Not a good idea to have those long cables hooked up only to the power amp and not connected to the preamp on the other end, I wouldn't push my luck with that test. If you have to have that long of an IC you might try a shielded pair.
This is from their web site.

http://www.kimber.com/Products/Interconnects/Hero/Hero_Spec.aspx

Jim