I’m sorry you are dealing with this
I chased buzzing in my speakers for months only in the end to find out it was my BHK Pre
I was dissuaded from believing it was the problem
Lots of wasted time and effort. Moving stuff around, different interconnects and cords etc
Many would say " if you can’t hear it when the music plays then who cares?" Despite that logic it drove me nuts
Just a note of sympathy/empathy here
Which likely isn’t real useful
Good luck
It sure is sweet when u figure it out
Your note of empathy is greatly appreciated!
" if you can’t hear it when it plays…" I have been told that many times.
Reminds me of the mantra for bad rock bands, “if you can’t play well, at least play loud”
Thanks! Juan
Did you have to have the BHK Pre serviced or how did you fix it or was it not fixed?
Ended up sending it in after alot of back and forth
What did they finally repair to fix the issue?
A board I guess
Just tried again tripping every panel and breaker except for the amp’s outlets. Comcast line disconnected outside the home BEFORE the ground block (this nothing from Comcast is connected to the house). Nothing else plugged in and no interconnects plugged in. Noise remains. Connected to my Aerial speakers, noise present. Tried both amps, problem on both
Has to be an issue with my wiring, the power coming into the house, the ATS, whole house surge suppressor or “got lucky” and have two separate amps with the same malady(and what are the odds of that?)
Only other thing left is the cellphone of the alarm system which has a ups. It is located 20/30’ from amps. I wonder.
Come to think of it, I always have my cell on me and my watch has bluetooth…?
Here’s a challenging one!
Been reading thru most of Paul’s Ground Loop Hum articles and these entries.
I have the dreaded ground loop in my system that I initially noticed with an old PS Audio 4.5 Pre Amp with the external M-500 power supply put back into service… but it was not the only culprit.
System is as follows:
- Adcom GFA-555 fully serviced and tested by master tech just recently with Hoppes Brian input board
- PS Audio 4.5 Preamp with M-500 external supply
- Bel Canto DAC 2.7
- Legacy Studio HD bookshelf speakers
I went thru Paul’s check list, religiously and methodically.
- Adcom alone with speakers = no hum
- Adcom with DAC ONLY (no inputs!) = hum/buzz (most noticeable from tweeters)
- Adcom with DAC (only input is PS Audio) and PS Audio Preamp (no inputs) = A LOT of hum/buzz
- Adcom with PS Audio Preamp ONLY (no inputs) = hum/buzz
I tried with the DAC attached to the Adcom, but unplugged the power to the DAC, and there is ‘less hum/buzz’.
Went thru and turned off every breaker in the house except for the wall outlets to the stereo: same buzz. The only thing I question is the GFCI outlet that is last in the line of the stereo room wall (nothing is plugged into it, it’s by the front door).
Last thing I tried was a ground-cheater plug on the DAC, or the Pre-Amp, and the hum/buzz is minuscule at best: there, but it’s very minimal. SSSSssSSSsSssossOOooooooo…
This tells me there is a ground loop that feeds back thru the RCA input to the amp and output RCA of the Bel Canto/PS Audio.
Meaning, there is a voltage disparity on the ground potentials of the two units and their chassis via the wall outlet ground. This gets into the ground plane of the PC boards and their corresponding unbalanced in/out, and is amplified, then ‘loops’ thru the RCAs.
I don’t think there is something ‘wrong’ with either the Bel Canto DAC nor the PS Audio pre-amp, in that they themselves are creating the ground loop internally thru improper circuit design and grounding…I think?
In my head, I think it’s an issue with a grounding disparity of the house panel itself: that there is a differential in the grounds from the get-go, which carries forward and gets worse. Am I correct in that?! Even a little bit?
Thanks for reading my TED~talk!
My guess power supply failed in your amp and likely smoked your speaker voice coils, burning off the insulation. While speaker may play their performance would be significantly altered for the worse. Hate to say it but time for a new amp and speakers.