After connecting the speaker cable between the speakers and the amplifier, I can hear a tiny 'hiss' or 'humm' sound coming out from my left and right speaker (I only have stereo) once I switch on the power of the amplifier. You can hear it when you stay close to the speaker within 1 foot.

I've tried to turn down the volumn to minimum, I can still hear the sound. Obviously, the sound is gone (covered) when I start playing music.

Do you have any idea? Thanks for your time.

what kind of amplifier do you have? is it a grounded plug? is it plugged directly into the wall, or a multi-strip? did the amp do this before?

bigjohn

It's an old Mission Cyrus II integrated amplifier (I bought it brand new in 1988). It has been sitiing in my basement for a long long time (over 8 years). Recently, I took it out and set it up for my wife in the study room for easy listening with Technics DVD player and KEF 103.2 bookshelf speaker.

It may have existed before. I discovered last evening when I replaced the speaker wire and banana plug with Axiom bulk speaker wire and banana plug. When I changed it back to the old wire and plug, I can still hear the sound. Therefore, I guess this exists before but I didn't realize.

It doesn't affect my wife from day to day listening since she listens mostly to soft rock songs. I think it may be an issue if playing some classical peices with very soft music.

I just want to know whether this is normal or not.

Thanks.

ps. I still have yet to own Axiom speakers, hopefully it's not far away (my dream is M60Ti).

Sounds like a ground loop hum. Do a search on a "Cheater Plug" Try it and see what happens.

I got rid of my ground loop hum with a couple of very cheap parts for radio shack - my hum was coming from my cable box, though, and the solution might be different if its coming from somewhere else.

Try this thread for the parts: 60Hz Ground Loop

Or, you could find a common ground and connect the ground terminals from each component to the common ground.

a hiss and a humm can mean conpletely different things, so you'll have to decide that one for yourself. If its a humm then possibly a ground loop as said above but if its a hiss it could be all sorts of things. On an older amp i might suspect the volume control, unless it seems to be exactly the same when you move the knob. It may also just be the amps own hiss. Usually you would notice it on cheap amps alot more then something decent so its hard to say. I wouldnt worry about it though because it doesnt sound like it interferes with your music. I get something a bit similar with different tubes in my preamp, just something i live with

Thank you for all your suggestions. I'll make use of the coming long weekend (it's Thanks Giving weekend in Canada)to try the things. I'll update you later.

Have a good weekend.

I don’t want to hijack the thread or anything, but my father’s problem seems to fit here. Recently his Sansui integrated began to hum, and produce quite a bit of static. It’s only coming from the right speaker, but it is clearly present while music is playing. Turning the volume up and down also produces quick pops when you first touch the control (not a knob, just a couple of buttons). He says the pots may need cleaning...?

Now this amp is around 20 years old, so I guess it’s about time for it to have problems, but any suggestions are welcome.

Merkaba,

Caig Products De-Oxit and Pro Gold will probably fix that noisy pot right up...worked wonders on an old Sansui I have as well as a Nikko for the neighbor...

It will involve partially dissasembling the receiver to gain access to the pots...spray it in, work it back and forth through the entire revolution of the pot, let it dry, reassemble and it should sound much better...

Works on switches too...

YMMV,

WhatFurrer

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

In reply to:

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Turning the volume up and down also produces quick pops when you first touch the control (not a knob, just a couple of buttons). He says the pots may need cleaning...?

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Waitaminute... try touching any other metal unpainted part of the case (back plate maybe?) and see if you get the same popping. If I understand correctly, it has a volume up and a volume down button, not a sweep pot (volume knob)?

If the popping still occurs (don't touch it for a few mins, then touch a metal part and see if it happens) then you've got a chassis ground problem.

Bren R.