2. amps-preamps
  3. 1230071394

Nakamichi PA-7 Hum

Hi,
Hope everyone has a great holiday season.
I am the original owner of a PA-7. If my house was ever robbed the first place I would look to know if my life, as I have known it, was over is my audio rack. I will stay with the PA-7 until it dies or I do.
My problem is that any new equipment that I try to run through the preamp (Nakamichi CA-5)that is not CD related i.e. cable TV audio lines, dvd players - anything new makes the amp hum. It is loud enough to be annoying but is drowned out when the volume is loud enough. Needless to say I have never left anything connected to it that caused it to hum for fear of doing damage.
Any ideas why it does that and if there is some type of line filter that I should have and don't know about? I would love to play DVD's, cable, etc. through the PA-7 but as long as I have had it only CD's play through without a problem.
Thanks for any help.
edmallia

Showing 1 response by hifigy

hifigy
59 posts
 

I had the same problem with my PA-7 & CA-7. The hum was intoduced by the audio cables coming from anything connected to my cable tv system. This was the quick and cheap way to create an isolation transformer. Take 2 75ohm/300ohm transformers that come with vcrs or tvs. Hopefully you'll have one with pigtails (300ohm) and one with screw teminals. Connect the pigtails to the teminals. You'll now have two "f" connectors at either end. Connect one end to your cable feed and one to your video system. This was essentially what the old "Magic" box was from a few years back but, instead of $99, you've spent maybe $5.

Happy holidays
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