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Low buzzing through speaks

Hello All,

 

Need some serious help here. So I just (upgraded?) from a Marantz AV8802A to a McIntosh MX122 preamp. I also just got brand new Revel Performa3 speaks all around (5 channel setup). I disconnect everything from the Marantz and then into the McIntosh, connect the speaks and I have a faint buzzing through all 5 speakers (that was not there previously). I have everything plugged into a Furman Elite 20pfi power conditioner which is plugged into a dedicated 20 amp circuit. My power amp is a Simaudio Titan HT200 5 channel. This is not going through the Furman but directly into the other outlet on the same 20 amp line. I even tried plugging the Sim amp into the Furman to see if that helped-no change faint buzz is still there. I have unplugged just about everything, and the buzz is still there. It is very faint and does not get louder when I turn up the volume. Again it is faint and you have to put your ear up to the speaks to hear but it is definitely there. I have tried so many things and nothing gets rid of it. It is not my cable box (I did have that issue previously with the Marantz but as soon as I unplugged the coax from the box it went away so I just bought a coax loop eliminator connected the cable to that and noise was all gone) as I unplugged that and started there.

 

Any help would be so sincerely appreciated????

kingbr
rwbadley's avatar
rwbadley
143 posts
 

I just went around with this same problem. 

At full volume with no source playing I was getting 48.5 dB hum and hiss from each speaker. Loud.

I finally traced it down to the subwoofer rca cables. I put in a different and better made cable and my hum and hiss went from 48.5 dB down to 35.4 dB. Wow!! that was a 13 dB attenuation of garbage noise! What an impact on the noise floor.

Apparently it was doing a weird backfeed through the the preamp outputs I was using to drive the subs...

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

Again it is faint and you have to put your ear up to the speaks to hear but it is definitely there.

  • Maybe just try and ignore it, and keep the ear away from the speaker?
  • Or downgrade back to the old amp?
4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 

I don't know if there a more irritating noise than hum unless it is static. I can even live with a little hiss. This is too common of a problem in audio. The cure or reduction of it can be anything from changing a cable or two, to rewiring the house!

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

I don’t know if there a more irritating noise than hum unless it is static. I can even live with a little hiss. This is too common of a problem in audio. The cure or reduction of it can be anything from changing a cable or two, to rewiring the house!

The old amp did not moan and hum, so I doubt that changing the whole home’s wiring is going to be easier than chucking in the old amp.

And if it did not hum with the old cables, then why is it humming with the new cables?

And then if the new amp hums elsewhere, we might have a datapoint to understand if it is the new amp.

 

But it is possible that it is as simple as a power cord over an IC, but I assume that the OP has addressed that via some investigation, and cable jiggling.

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,360 posts
 

The old amp did not moan and hum, so I doubt that changing the whole home’s wiring is going to be easier than chucking in the old amp.

The two most common sources of new/increased noise when things were fine before, is an amp with more gain or a more efficient pair of loudspeakers.

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