Thanks...just enjoying my rig now without hum, before I get back on the upgrade train. Still can't believe its finally gone...it was like an ugly wart....and now only peaceful quiet.
I finally fixed my HUM! Halalulah, and thanks for tips
Dear 'Goners:
I have suffered with a horrible ground loop hum for years, and I tried many of the fixes I read about here, hired experts to come to house and work with me to switch IC from IC, and no joy.
Finally, after being totally exacerbated, I read some basic tips found on these forums.
1. I have three pairs of dedicated 20 amp lines, had my electrician come out, and move one line to that all three were on same side of breaker box, to keep them in same phase.
2. Had him install dedicated 8' copper grounding rod outside of my listening room, and connect my three lines, as well as my Directv sat dish to this new ground point. My room is opposite end of house, over 60' away from electrical panel.
3. Moved my nosy wall warts, portable HD's for digital music, and power supply from laptop away from my amp and DAC, and moved their power onto an Equitech Q that I was using in a different room, and plugged my Marantz 8802 A/V pre pro into it for balanced power. The Marantz only has a two prong cord, not a grounded 3 prong.
Used a PS Audio P-5 regenerator for my home theater set up.
My Hegel Amp, my Playback Design MPD-5, two powered subwoofers, and now Equi tech and PS audio P5 are all plugged into one of my 6 dedicated 20 amp lines.
When I switched my preamp input to an unused source, and turned up the volume...absolute QUIET...no hum, no tube hiss, absolute, pure, blissful quiet.
Initially I had my Hegel plugged into Equitech, but sound came out flat and a bit lifeless. I plugged amp into empty dedicated line, and now everything that I hoped to hear, I am hearing. Great detail, PRAT, improved sound stage and finally appropriate resolution of fine details and spacial cues that were missing.
Bottom line; all the tips here are valid, and work, if only I had been more compulsive earlier, and not trusted that my power was in phase properly, I could have had more enjoyment earlier. Trust the process, and don't assume that the power is fine, when it may be the culprit. Keep everything, including computer and wall warts for portable HD's, etc on the same circuits, not on the 'house' line....move the nosy power supplies away from key pieces of gear...and finally...the sound of silence. Dedicated ground rods are worth the trouble.
I am grateful, and just listening to music for a wonderful warm spring weekend here in SoCal. The contributors to these questions are great, and I wish to simply say Thank you for all previous comments, on other posts, etc...it all is helpful.
Best,
Bob
I have suffered with a horrible ground loop hum for years, and I tried many of the fixes I read about here, hired experts to come to house and work with me to switch IC from IC, and no joy.
Finally, after being totally exacerbated, I read some basic tips found on these forums.
1. I have three pairs of dedicated 20 amp lines, had my electrician come out, and move one line to that all three were on same side of breaker box, to keep them in same phase.
2. Had him install dedicated 8' copper grounding rod outside of my listening room, and connect my three lines, as well as my Directv sat dish to this new ground point. My room is opposite end of house, over 60' away from electrical panel.
3. Moved my nosy wall warts, portable HD's for digital music, and power supply from laptop away from my amp and DAC, and moved their power onto an Equitech Q that I was using in a different room, and plugged my Marantz 8802 A/V pre pro into it for balanced power. The Marantz only has a two prong cord, not a grounded 3 prong.
Used a PS Audio P-5 regenerator for my home theater set up.
My Hegel Amp, my Playback Design MPD-5, two powered subwoofers, and now Equi tech and PS audio P5 are all plugged into one of my 6 dedicated 20 amp lines.
When I switched my preamp input to an unused source, and turned up the volume...absolute QUIET...no hum, no tube hiss, absolute, pure, blissful quiet.
Initially I had my Hegel plugged into Equitech, but sound came out flat and a bit lifeless. I plugged amp into empty dedicated line, and now everything that I hoped to hear, I am hearing. Great detail, PRAT, improved sound stage and finally appropriate resolution of fine details and spacial cues that were missing.
Bottom line; all the tips here are valid, and work, if only I had been more compulsive earlier, and not trusted that my power was in phase properly, I could have had more enjoyment earlier. Trust the process, and don't assume that the power is fine, when it may be the culprit. Keep everything, including computer and wall warts for portable HD's, etc on the same circuits, not on the 'house' line....move the nosy power supplies away from key pieces of gear...and finally...the sound of silence. Dedicated ground rods are worth the trouble.
I am grateful, and just listening to music for a wonderful warm spring weekend here in SoCal. The contributors to these questions are great, and I wish to simply say Thank you for all previous comments, on other posts, etc...it all is helpful.
Best,
Bob
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- 18 posts total
Peter; Good question. After my electrician ensured that all the three dedicated lines where correctly installed with same phase, and added a dedicated ground rod to just these three circuits, there was around a 75% improvement in noise reduction, but it was still there. It was only after that I moved all my 'wall wart' power supplies from my three WD portable hard drives, my computer power supply, and Universal remote power supply on its own power strip off a plug being used by 'general room' power, and placed into a second Equitech unit, did my hum completely go away. I was only using one PS Audio P-5 as a conditioner, and I did not have enough plugs to have my entire rig powered by the 3 dedicated 20 amp lines. That has always been one of the tips from the Forums to help eliminate hum and unwanted ground potential differences. I did not appreciate how significant that simple tip would be, nor realize what was necessary to achieve that goal, but I'm glad that going back to basics, and following all the tips produced my desired result. Best, Bob |
mribob ... After my electrician ensured that all the three dedicated lines where correctly installed with same phase, and added a dedicated ground rod to just these three circuits, there was around a 75% improvement in noise reduction, but it was still there.Are you saying that these ground rods are not bonded to the neutral/ground in your main service panel? If so, that's a definite violation of the NEC and potentially dangerous. This is an example of why one should always obtain proper construction permits for work such as this, and then follow-up with an inspection by your code official. |
mribob, I too installed 3 dedicated lines (by myself). And I also did not put one on the same phase. It’s easy to do since you think you should keep them close together in the breaker box. I eventually did move the oddball to the same phase. Another BIG offender is cable / sat rca connections somewhere in the audio system. I used a ISO-Max and that eliminated that problem. I am now using a tube amp and everything, including ground noise, hiss etc.is dead silent! I’m also not sure about you using an additional grounding rod. Can you try it without using a separate grounding point? ozzy |
- 18 posts total