Power conditioners
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Good question. I believe some have had success going that route. It depends on the source of the hum. I had a problem caused by my directv satellite receiver that I solved by attaching a bare ground wire to screws on the satellite receiver and the pre-amp.
Try to disconnect sources until the culprit is found. If it only affects one channel the speaker connections are to blame and much easier to repair. If none of the sources are responsible then the power source may be to blame. Do you have cable or satellite? Cable is the much easier to effect a cure by an RF isolator. Good luck.
Glad to see folks are beginning to find the TAS forum. Great mag, no!
Bryston 2BLP Parasound Halo p-3
Infinity Kappa 400 M&K MX-70
NAD T-533 Yamaha MCX-1000
Thorens TD-185 Monarchy 33
Yes, TAS is great. I think my hum problem is not due to Directv, since it happened when I installed a new preamp. I like the disconnecting idea.
Thanks.
CEO and Editorial Director, Nextscreen LLC
I want to let all AVGuide forum participants know that the editors and writers of The Absolute Sound and The Perfect Vision will be engaging in the forum on a regular basis. Bring on your questions, comments, thoughts about the magazines. We'd love to hear from you.
We will also publicize this forum in the magazines so that we get more participants and generate some interesting and stimulating threads. I look forward to seeing you on the forum.
To respond to the question about hum and power conditioners, you should know that hum is caused by a "ground loop" in which there are two grounds in the system at different potentials. You hear the hum as a small amount of current flow in the ground. Plugging all of your equipment into a power conditioner may help because each component will now have the same ground reference.
Robert Harley
Editor-in-Chief
The Absolute Sound
The Perfect Vision
Robert,
I don't have any idea if you will even get this. I presume you are a pretty
busy man being an author, editor, and all. Anyhow, I read your book prior to
purchasing my home theater system. It was tremendously educational and
critical to my survival in the audio/video world. I am really pleased with
all of my choices. I have even been successful giving others advise which is
generally based on things I have read in your book or magazine. One example
is I advised a friend that he might want to consider adding a power
conditioner to augment his new plasma TV. I thought this was particularly
important since he was also considering taking the plunge into surround
sounds as well. He asked what they do and I explained that they act as a
high end surge protect and also filter out noise which should result in
better quality and longer lasting products. This particular friend is a
retired engineer and rapidly caught on to the concepts and proceeded to do
some researching on his own. In fact, he quickly surpassed my knowledge.
First, he found a web sight touting that their product which is based on a
series mode technology is superior to MOV technology. They claimed that MOV
technology was sacrificial in nature and wuold rapidly degrade over time. He
then asked me what I thought and I had to confess that I had no clue. I only
knew that your book, magazine, and everything I have ever read strongly
recommened power conditions. However, I really had no fundamental
understanding of the technology behind it. Since then I have read quit a
bit, but have come up with nothing in the concise format that you are famed
for showing. I would love to see something in print explaining the
principles behind power conditioners. Better yet, the way your book provides
detailed "How to Choose" paragraphs is invaluable. Think this might be a
good idea for an article in one of your sister magazines? In the meatime if
you could give me any quick recap on your thoughts on series mode vs. MOV
technology it would be much appreciated. Thanks!
MOV technology isn't used in high-end power conditioners, or if it is, doesn't contribute to the sonic improvements rendered. Rather, an MOV is a ten-cent device that simply opens when the voltage across it exceeds a determined threshold. It works once and then is destroyed. The MOV is sacrificed to protect you equipment.
Power conditioners designed to improve the sound of audio systems filter noise from the incoming AC line and also isolate their AC outlets from one another. This second function prevents noise in a CD player, for example, from getting into a preamp. It's not enough to clean up the incoming AC; noise travels between components through the mutually shared AC line. Any product with digital circuits will generate high-frequency noise. A good power conditioner keeps noise generated by one component in your system from entering another.
I'm not familiar with the term "series mode." However, be cautious about using a conditioner that inserts series components into the signal path with power amplifiers. The high current drawn by the power amplifier must pass through these series components which can restrict current flow. Most conditioners designed for power amplifiers filter noise with parallel circuitry.
I hope this answers your question.
Best regards,
Robert Harley