Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions What to do with a problem called Grounding

I am at a loss on what the best move to do is. I have a grounding issue and no idea on what direction is the best move to go.

I have the LFR1100 speakers so they have their own DSP. This is made by Axiom and has been tested and looked at by Andrew and I will assume that he knows what the hell is is doing and not feeling me BS.

I have bought a $1000 Anthem MCA5ii (5 channel 200w8ohm) that has the power to nicely run the LFR's and my VP180 center channel speaker. Sadly however, the MCA doesn't like the Axiom DSP if you connect them via RCA interconnects. One has a floating ground and the other unit does not. So RCA's are out.

I recently upgraded to the Marantz AV7005 pre-amp to get my XLR interconnects so I am not loosing the 12db of power difference by using the RCA - XLR cables to feed the DSP. However, the AV7005 seems to have it's own set of issues the grounding when use with the amp and dsp. If I plug in some equipment with the HDMI I get the feedback humm from the LFR's. My new Panasonic TV gives a small humm on the VP180.

I get ZERO problems of feedback humm from my QS8's that are hooked up through my AudioSource Amp/One-A. This amp does not have any XLR connectors and works fine with even the LFR's but doesn't have quite the power to drive the LFR's at a more reference level.

Before the Marantz, I was using a Pioneer receiver that didn't have any issues with ground feedback humm but lost the -12db due to the MCA / DSP need for the XLR interconnects.

I bought the Marantz used so I can't tell if it is the problem and have no means or desire to throw money at it getting it tested as ground fault issues are the dogs breakfast to resolve. It was the last component to be added. But on the logical side, with new Atmos and DTS-X, the AV7005 is capable of at most 7.2 and no support for the newer standards. I doubt that I will ever go for Atmos but in the next few years maybe the AV8801 will be swapped out by someone and I can pick one up for a better price.

Looking a bit deeper however, the MCA5 doesn't work right with the DSP and this might be the source of the issue. As the Marantz and Axiom DSP play nice with my other amp, perhaps that is the real piece that needs to be solved. But the amp can be a rather expensive piece to replace. Do I replace the 5 channel amp with a pair of matched 2 channel amp that are rated to work down to the 4ohms? Trying to get matched stereo amps used is a good luck endeavor. Crown is a possibility to buy for not too much money. There is Emotiva and Outlaw.. but I can easily see the bill getting up to the 2-3k. And again you are buying blind in the hopes that they will play nice with the Axiom DSP.

The sure fire one that should work would be to get an Axiom amp, but $3000+ for 5 channels it more cost that I would like to spend.

Any thoughts??