SteelerFan Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 I have a hum coming from all my speakers and figured it was a grounding problem with my amps. Thought a trip to HD for a couple of ground-lift adapters would do the trick. When I saw they were only $.63 each I bought 3 so I had one for the pre-amp just in case. To my suprise they had no effect at all, I was ready to freak. So I started tracing and found if I play with the interconnects at the pre-amp I can get the hum to stop sometimes. Right now the I have one surround that is dead quiet, both mains humming at a low level and the center and other surround humming like crazy. It's too bad, I was really getting the thing figured out otherwise. Way more complicated than my old Yamaha and the directions may as well be in French, but by just playing with the settings in the menu it was all coming together for me. Now I have to go to the trouble of packing it up and sending it back plus having to worry the new one they send will do the same thing. Damn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 sounds like a loose solder joint on one or more of your RCA jacks.... i had an old pioneer receiver that did the same thing.... i had a technician re-solder all the RCA jacks and then it worked fine... but if it's new...definitely send it back!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 That's a pain in the keister. And I can definitely relate. I just hope your turn-around is a lot quicker than mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 ---------------- On 4/3/2004 6:02:50 PM SteelerFan wrote: Now I have to go to the trouble of packing it up and sending it back plus having to worry the new one they send will do the same thing. Damn. ---------------- That is a major bummer! . Yeah, I hope you can get that resolved. In the meantime, can you use your Yamaha as a pre/pro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 What's going on with build quality? Seems like a lot of people are having to return new units (mostly for humming issues). Sorry to hear the news - hopefully a one time issue quickly resolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted April 3, 2004 Share Posted April 3, 2004 ---------------- On 4/3/2004 10:31:53 PM Darren wrote: What's going on with build quality? Seems like a lot of people are having to return new units (mostly for humming issues). Sorry to hear the news - hopefully a one time issue quickly resolved. ---------------- Mass-market companies are having to compete on price. QC is always the first sacrifice on the altar of profit margin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 Unreal, I have a NAD T163 and I had to have it replaced due to one of the subwoofer outputs not working correctly. NAD replaced the unit even though it was 33 days old but it seems ever since I got the replacement unit I have a hum through all my speakers as well. I have tried just about everything to isolate it. Apparently it must be the preamp itself, however if I get another one I have a feeling that it will do the same thing. I have to call the dealer on Monday I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 Mine is a very faint hum that seems to be power related though, could you elaborate more on the hum. I am also using all Heritage speakers which are a little more efficient than the Reference line. I did not recall having any hum with the first T-163 I had that is why I am wondering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted April 4, 2004 Author Share Posted April 4, 2004 Bummer to say the least. The salesman is supposed to call me today, I'll get an idea then on the turn around. Steven, I could use the Yamaha as a pre-amp except for the fact that I re-configured my homemade audio rack to fit all of the new stuff in. It would be a hell of a chore to do it all over again to squeeze the Yamaha back in. And the Yamaha is about twice the height as the NAD pre. Frzn, my hum seems to be coming from where the interconnects-the ones leading to the amps-hook into the pre. If I work them a little I can get the hum to stop sometimes. I have one surround now that is dead quiet. The RCA's back there don't seem very robust to me. I wonder if the Cobalt cables are too heavy for them? I don't know, this is my first time with seperates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonedoc Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 SteelerFan, How did you like your NAD S250 amp. Dp you know how it compares to the NAD T973? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted April 4, 2004 Author Share Posted April 4, 2004 ---------------- On 4/4/2004 3:51:09 PM bonedoc wrote: SteelerFan, How did you like your NAD S250 amp. Dp you know how it compares to the NAD T973? ---------------- Reserving judgement on the NAD stuff for now, plus I've not tried the T973. I spent a good chunk of the day playing around with connections. The salesman gave me some ideas, he was wondering if maybe I had some bad cables. They are brand new Cobalts, but I tried anyway. What I discovered was I can plug in just one cable and that speaker will be quiet. Tried one of the many cheap patchcords I have laying around first and it worked fine, so I started trying each one of the seven Cobalts and they were all fine. But when I try hooking it all back up I get the hum. Then I tried hooking up my Yamaha DSP-A1000 as a pre-amp and I got the humming again. I'm frustrated beyond words. I don't know, could it be the amp? Why if I connect one channel does it sound OK? I've tried hooking up the speakers to the amps only and everything is perfectly silent. That should mean the amps are ok, am I right? I thought going seperates was the right move, guess I should have just bought the B&K receiver. It's too bad, I really do like the NAD pre-amp. Easy to figure out by just playing with it and yet very flexible in set up. The salesman is going to speak with the NAD tech dept and see if they have any ideas. He is also going to send me a pre that NAD used at the CES show, that way we know the pre is fine. If that doesn't work I'll just send the NAD amp and pre-amp back for my money and keep the Cary, it only has a faint hum. But I'll be back almost to square one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgb Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 Steeler fan, I experienced the same problem not too long ago, my cables had come apart under all the RCA plug assembly. Of course they were $100 cables and not the cheaper ones I used. Figures. I have a NAD 541 CD player, while the sound is very nice, the drawer sticks shut and doesn't close properly with a CD in it. I need to kind of slam it shut when it's about an inch from being closed. Not real happy with that after only about 2 years. My Nakamichi CD player lasted over 10 years with no problems. My Philips CD recorder also has problems, it's only 4 years old. I'm hooking up my old Nak tape player. Back to the cassette! I'm sick of CD-Rs that go bad after a year or two. Have a feeling I'm going to have a ton of coasters in the next few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted April 5, 2004 Author Share Posted April 5, 2004 The NAD techs claim they have had some grounding issues with their amps and have a fix for it. So they are going to do the fix on a brand new S250 and then send it to me along with a pre-paid shipping label so I can send mine back. I told them I still have a slight hum with the Cary and S170i combo, they said they will trouble shoot that with me. Ofcourse they blame part of it on the Klipsch speakers, being they are so effecient a slight hum turns into a larger one with them. Yeah whatever. I'm giving them one more chance, if I'm not satisfied, the NAD stuff is going back. I've decided I'll just go down to Sound Advice and get the B&K 2 channel pre-amp and pair it up with the Cary amp, which by the way has a very sweet sound, and let my center and surrounds gather dust for awhile. Then down the road if I like the B&K with the Cary, I'll match them up with my Forte II's in the other room and then dip my toe back into the HT pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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