HUM - you can catch fish in a dingy too.


You can go buy a six-figure bass boat to catch fish, but you can catch the same fish out of a $200 rowboat.

So, I had - HAD - a hum problem in my system that was driving me nuts for about a year. It started out that it was the amplifier making the speakers hum even when the source or pre-amo was disconnected. Then I got a new preamp and the amp was quiet but the hum returned as soon as I took the preamp off mute - basically the hum jumped components, which left me drooling in rage and confusion. I switched sources, switched cables, switched ICs and speaker cables, added a power supply then plugged everything directly into the wall.... Arrrggghh!!!

Finally, in desperation I did something that I don't like for a number of reasons: I stuck a 35 cent cheater plug between the pre-amp and the power supply (which is itself still grounded) and the hum FINALLY went away. $15,000 worth of audio jewelry and it took a 35 cent piece of plastic to make it work right. Sometimes we are too smart for our own good. Just thought I'd share.
grimace

Showing 3 responses by sandstone

Just picked up your earlier thread... looks like you have all the advice you need. ...Tight lines.
"I disregard the braysayers regarding risks."
Excellent! ..that would make for an interesting epitaph.

Grimace, glad you feel safe with your solution, and who knows, it may be just fine. Besides, if you do have a problem, I'm sure that Newbee will step up and pay for half the damages.
Good find, but you may still not be home free. Some of the experts here might wonder if you could be placing your $15K system at additional risk. You may want to check some of the old Agon threads regarding cheater plugs.
The good news: this may be a great diagnostic clue on how to solve this (grounding problem?) without the cheater plug.