Low buzzing through speaks

It's the Mac preamp.  Happened to me too.  The only solution was to go with another preamp.  

Great replies @tkhill ​​​​@strawj! I used the opportunity when I relocated a few things when I introduced the McIntosh to clean and dust-another great call on this thread! You guys truly are awesome! And my Hum-X will arrive Thursday so tomorrow I try plugging the McIntosh into a separate outlet direct and see if that makes the buzz go away. Next step if that doesn’t work is to unplug everything 1 at a time from my Furman Elite. Then plug everything back one at a time to see if it in fact maybe isn’t the McIntosh. But I have already unplugged several components including the 2 subs and the cable box and that didn’t change anything. So I’ll go all the way in tomorrow.

I did disconnect all my XLR IC’s from the Titan amp and there was no buzz so I know it’s not the power amp. My IC’s are all Transparent Plus so I know they’re solid. I really am almost convinced it’s the McIntosh but we’ll dig a bit more tomorrow…

Thank you all once again for supporting and going on this journey with me👍🏻!

Back in my radio days we designed a very nice control room. Then the engineer laid all the mic lines on top of the data lines. I was the only person who could hear the problem, therefore it didn't exist. 

I'd try a trial separation, or, if it's not a big deal, unhook everything, add back a line at a time. It's a great opportunity to dust & polish also.

On that note; I have been waiting for this to come up, I live in SoCal in the SDG&E jurisdiction just by the way. I have never had a  type AB Amp that didn't buzz and now I have a type D that is quiet as as a a night full of stars for no apparent difference in set up. I also had an old beach house that would cause my Krell 2250 to Buzz Loud when it was off when the Mr. Coffee came on in the kitchen. good Morning sunshine. THAT SYSTEM CONSISTENTLY BLEW DRIVERS AND EVENTUALLY FRIED THE POWER CONDITIONER DURING A T- STORM. Some of this hi-end equipment is touchier than the Manufactures would have us layman believe. peace out

Thank you @willgolf! Just read your reply went right to Amazon and ordered it! So you mentioned you used this on your amps, but I know my issue is my preamp. What I’m going to do is either plug the McIntosh into the Hum-X and then plug the Hum-X into my Furman Elite, or plug the McIntosh into the Hum-X and then go to a different wall outlet thus separating the McIntosh from the circuit altogether. Someone suggested I try going direct to the wall outlet with the McIntosh. I figure trying that with the Hum-X might do it🤞🏻!

Thank you so much for this reply! Great to hear it solved your problem! Hopefully it’ll do the same for me. Otherwise St John the Evangelist down the street will be getting a call😂

I had the same issue with my amps.  I tried everything and even hired an electrical engineer to come out and test everything.  I bought the $79 Ebtek HumX - problem solved.  You are not supposed to plug your Power conditioner into HUM X.  The amps direct to HumX to the wall outlet

Regardless very insightful and I sincerely appreciate all of your advice/support-so thanks man👍

I would assume so, but I am certainly not an expert on gain matching, or McIntosh. 

Thank you so much for providing this video @fredrik222. This is referencing the power amps from McIntosh/Trinnov though? Does it stand to reason the preamps share the same issues/characteristics?

@kingbr here is the Shane Lee video I mentioned. Relevant section is about 5 minutes in “noise floor”, 

Hello All,

So I cleaned up "the nest" (still getting a kick out of that one @jackd) this morning as best I could and removed the Audioengine B1 (great call and thank you @plumptonvinyl I had my suspicions on that one as well) and reconnected and, buzzing still there 😫! Thank you @imhififan I did remove all the IC's from the Titan, powered up and no buzz. So I know it's not the Titan-another good call to try-thank you! No change. @fredrik222 thank you and yes the obvious was always in mind and actually sent an email tom Jay's Audiolab to seek their advice and waiting to hear back. Figure it has to be the McIntosh. Didn't want to believe it because I just dropped 4K on it, but it is what it is now. 

So I'm down to 4 options:

1. Go back to the Marantz and try to resell the McIntosh (not likely at all to do this).

2. There is a product called the Hum-X that I could maybe try plugging the McIntosh into and then either plugging that in to the Furman Elite (kinda seems weird but could work, no?) or going to a different outlet altogether as both circuits on the dedicated 20 amp line are taken. Providing the McIntosh doesn't draw more than 6 amps as that is the max on the Hum-X. Need to call McIntosh to get the current draw for the 122. I can't see that being more than 6 amps though. Really this is my last true option.

3. Reach out to the church and have them send a priest to get rid of this thing (sorry have to keep my sense of humor it's all I have left).

4. Live with it. A few have suggested this as it's such a faint buzz that can only be heard with ear close to tweeter and certainly not audible with anything playing. Some have said to be thankful it's such a low level buzz and I know it could be worse.

Again I wangt to thank you all for taking your time to try and help, all suggestions have been great. Please if you have any others I'm still not quite ready to give up just yet. But after the Hum-X (if that is doable and viable) I think option 4 will be the end result by default...

Echoing the above, try "a cheater plug on the Mac to see, and if it helps".  To eliminate the same in my system I installed a Jensen Iso-Max VRD-1FF 75 Ohm Inline Digital CATV Isolator Hum Eliminator between the internet cable and Xfinity cable box and it worked like a charm.

My guess is that you are connected to a cable tv and or an internet cable and are getting ground issues. They are spooky. Might use a cheater plug on the Mac to see, and if it helps, then I would suggest a hum buster transformer plug for the Mac or else put a ground loop transformer in line with the cable (latter has worked best for me, they are about $15).

Not to point out the obvious or anything, but you didn’t have this issue with the Marantz, but do with the Mac, sooooo, it is the mac. Many others have documented this, take a look and Jay’s audio lab on YouTube, or Shane Lee’s Trinnov reviews, both had this issue with some (pre)amps, Shane specifically calls out Mac. 

Try disconnecting the Audioengine B1. Take it out of the system completely and see it the buzzing has stopped.

this may be causing a grounding issue.

Hi @kingbr

may I ask what other components are connected to the Pre Amp?

thanks

@kingbr 

Your thought process of wanting to get the processor to the top is a good one in theory though as it will have to most cables coming in and out it increases the chance for power and signal cables crossing.  Though a royal pain in the ass the only way to likely to get the problem under control will be to remove all of the cables and start over again grouping the two types into two groupings and using something to keep them somewhat bundled so they don't stray.  I just it myself in two racks and it was a process. 

Thank you @jackd! I’m going to try that tomorrow AM, and also try unplugging the IC’s from the Titan as @imhififan suggested. I’m really hoping it’s “the nest”😂 which it truly is great call on that one😂!

I have a Shunyata Alpha 20 amp power cable on the Titan and all Transparent Plus XLR IC’s from the Titan to the McIntosh so it’s not like I’ve skimped there…That’s actually the reason I wanted to move the location of the preamp because I could not get at the back where it was before so I moved it to the top of my Entertainment center. But that obviously changed the cabling around. So maybe that is the ticket🤞🏻!

just want to take a minute and really thank all of you who have taken the time to reply👍🏻! You guys are awesome!

If you've got IC's and PC's crossing over each other that's your problem.  Clean up the cable nest and the problem should go away.

Thanks @imhififan It is more than 15 years old but I sent it to Simaudio for “calibration and cleanup” last year and she came back squeaky clean. They actually said she was in better shape than most-though they said they don’t see many of them because they “overbuild their amps”. I’ll give that a shot. Like I’ve been told it’s a minimal buzz that you really have to get your ear up to within a few inches of the tweeter to hear, but it wasn’t there before so that’s why I’m totally perplexed. 
 

I should also mention that when I switched out the Marantz for the McIntosh I totally switched up my setup which means cables and power cords are all intertwined. This also might be causing it im told? It’s always been spaghetti ills but now IC cables and power cords have changed logistics…

I also just got brand new Revel Performa3 ... My power amp is a Simaudio Titan HT200 5 channel.

If the Titan is more than 15 years old, there could be a possibility the power supply filtering capacitors causing the noise.

You can disconnect all the input cables from the Titan, power it up and see if you can still hear the buzzing noise.

Thank you @russ69, but how as they are coax? I don’t have a way to connect it between amp and preamp?

Put a 10db attenuator between your amp and preamp.

I’ve talked to the folks at Crutchfield and Emotiva and they basically said if it’s that low and you can’t hear it from the listening position to just live with it as it’s not something worth going crazy over. You really have to put your ear within about 4-6 inches of the tweeter to hear it…🤷‍♂️

Thanks @ianrmack  for replying. My home is older, built in 1974. But that buzz was not there previously. I checked out the Emotiva piece, but how would I integrate that with the Furman Elite? I have 2 powered subs, my preamp, my DAC, cd player, cable box, Brennan B2 (this is how I listen to music as I have all my cd’s ripped to this unit), DVD player, and an Audioengine B1 blue tooth plugged into the Furman?

Do you have an old home? You may have some "DC offset" issues with your AC.

Emotiva makes a CMX-2 (?) at around $150 and it fixes it.

Amps with toroidal transformers tend to pick it up more.