Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Speaker hum

I love my new M60s - have had them for about 6 weeks, however, I have noticed a humming noise between songs when I turn my M60s up to moderately high sound levels - about 2/5 and higher on volume knob. I am running a NADC320BEE with a 13yr.old Sony CDP670. Cabling is Ultralink 14g and Ultralink cables linking the CDP to the NAD. Any suggestions as to how to clean this up and what causes the noise? Would better cable such as the Axiom 12g or a newer CDP help? There seems to be a bit of a dead spot on the back of the CDP...if I wiggle the left connector I lose the sound in the one speaker. I am not the most technical guy so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Curtis

From the sound of things it defitently seems like the cd player is at fault here. If you can, try using a different cd player or dvdp or vcr, whatever for the source.... Actually...

If you turn your system on and leave the cdp turned off and try turning the volume up. and the HUMMM is not there. its the cdp. If it is, its probbly the NAD. i dont know if that nad has them but make sure you have the shorting plugs in the tape input..

Yep, sounds like your cdp has a bug up it's analog. Take Haoleb's advice. Btw, new cables won't help the hum unless yours are damaged in some way.

Hi CurtisV,

You may have a "ground loop," which can usually be cured by reversing the prongs on the AC plug (if you can) of ONE component. (By "reversing", I mean unplug the AC line, turn the plug around, and plug it in again.) Try reversing the two prongs of the plug for your CD player first and see if the hum disappears. Or reverse the AC plug of the NAD (don't do the CD player if you do that).

Regards,

Thanks very much for all the information. I will try all the suggestions. The goal is to upgrade the CD player next year...just gotta get the go-ahead of the "boss" and find the unit I want to purchase. Any advice?

depends on how much your looking at spending. there are quite a few different units each at the top of their class...

-------------------------------------------

just gotta get the go-ahead of the "boss"

-------------------------------------------

After last week's fiasco, you are gutsy writing something like this my friend! LOL! OK, OK, I'm just tired and in a stupid mood today. 3 days until my new Axioms get here!

Rocky

Hoping to spend between $500 - $750Cad. Thinking about the NADC521BEE as a possibility. Not quite sure what fiasco you are referring to Rocky...sure you have the right Curtis?

Sorry for the confusion. It's just that we always joke about the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) around here. Often guys say they have to get things approved by "the boss" , or ask permission. Last week someone told another poster to get balls or something to that effect and a bunch of posts flew from it. I just thought the whole thing was funny. I didn't mean to say I agreed or disagreed with anyone.


It made me snicker when I read your post and since I was just in a stupid mood today and felt like making a comment.

lager,
Rocky

Thanks for enlightening me. WAF is an important but not all encompassing concept. There are situations when it doesn't apply. For example, I know with my wife goatees have a very low WAF but I can "push the envelope" with big sideburns. I prefer to look for situations where I can gather brownie points to cash in for CDs, stereo gear, running equipment, etc. WAF is definitely something that needs to be considered...anyone that says otherwise isn't being totally honest.

Regards,
Curtis

Curtis

They're either not being honest, or they're dicks who don't consider their partner in purchasing decisions. I hazard to guess it's the former though - male egos can get out of hand sometimes.

Curtis- I'm curious to know if Alan's suggestions helped you out with this hum issue. I am now experiencing the same hum problem with my setup. I specifically can trace it to one component, which is my Adcom GDD-1 (digital decoder). When I turn it off, it goes away completely.

I'm going to try Alan's suggestion of reversing the plug to see if that's what the issue is. I'm really hoping that will do the trick. I'll try it tonight and report back.

-Kevin

Kevin,

If reversing the AC plug doesn't cure the problem, check the ground (or have the cable guy check it) on the cable-TV feed. This is often a source of hum and ground loops, sometimes requiring a copper rod driven into the earth outside your house and a separate ground wire at the cable junction box.

I had that situation with a house in Toronto, and only got rid of the cable-TV induced ground loop by having the cable serviceman install an earth ground outside my house. He also cleaned and sealed all the connections on the cable feed from the line behind the house.

There is another way to isolate a cable feed, using two 75-ohm/300-ohm line transformers end to end, but your problem may not be sourced to the cable TV.

Regards,