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Nordost Frey interconnect hum

I bought a pair of used Nordost Frey unbalanced interconnects here and i noticed they induce a hum through my speakers when my preamp is off or when the cables are only plugged into the power amp. The strange thing to me is that my Nordost Heimdall interconnects do not induce the hum under the same conditions nor do other shielded interconnects. They do the same thing on another system as well. I understand that both the Heimdall and Frey have the same 97% shielding and the only difference is 2 extra center conductors. I'm waiting for the seller to ask Nordost but i thought i would ask here if anyone can explain it.

Thanks for any advice.
pongagt
bjesien
1,289 posts
 
I noticed a hum when I didn't have them properly set. Just jiggle and tighten or remove and put them on again. Great cables.
davehrab's avatar
davehrab
380 posts
 
Frey's come with WBT Nex Gen RCAs .. the Nex Gen has a fragile ground lug that can easily be bent back and broken off if care isn't taken when installing the cables

Once the lug bends back or breaks off the connection is lost and you get the humming

Check the ground lugs on the RCAs to be sure none are damaged
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pongagt OP
3 posts
 
Thank You very much for all the replies. I really appreciate it. I checked the ground tabs during a visual inspection right after i received the cables and they look fine. The solder joints looked ok as did resistance checks on the cables. I also tried installing them in a reverse direction and i am sure they were very tight. I use Deoxit on all the connections. The jacks on my amp are only a few months old. Like i mentioned, there is no hum with any other cable i use. What makes matters weirder is that both cables have the problem. I'm going to call Nordost tomorrow. The two that might be able to figure out if there is a problem were at the CES last week. I'm hoping the seller will take care of the problem if there is something wrong with the cables but he has been unresponsive recently.
brf
1,715 posts
 
Pongagt, unless the cables prove to be defective, the seller has fulfilled his obligation.

Nordost is an excellent company and has excellent customer service. Good luck.
pops
2,274 posts
 
sounds like a ground loop - I had that on a particular cable and was not able to solve it. It was a preamp to amp connection.
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