2. amps-preamps
  3. 1135869688

Crackling Noise ...driving me nuts

I get a crackling noise from my right speaker and it's really harsh also I can hear a slight crackling noise when turning up the volume from both the Front L + R speaker. Finally if all components are on and I turn off the DVD player or my Pre/pro the speakers make a loud buzz noise .

The change I made to my system which resulted in this issue was addition of a McIntosh MSD4 processor. If I remove the processor from the equation and use a HT receiver with my other components the issue goes away.

Has anyone had a similar issue ? Is there something wrong with the pre/pro or is this a ground loop .or interconnect issue. My system details are listed below

McIntosh Pre/Pro MSD4
McIntosh MC 7200 (L + R / Kef XQ5)
B&K ST 140 (L + R Surround / Monitor Audio)
B&K ST 125 Powering the Center Channel (Kef XQ 2C)
britrover
bbaxley2
141 posts
 
try cleaning the volume pot had it happen to me one time on preamp ,radio shack makes the cleaner
britrover OP
1 posts
 
Thanks to everyone who has responded....I'd did manage to isolate the issue to the preamp.....the crackling sound only appears when playing music/movies on the right channel......turning the volume up also results in a slight crackling sound.

If the processor is off all problems disappear.
bdgregory
1,717 posts
 
I had a similar issue that turned out to be a combination of a bad DSP board in my pre/pro, and issue of compatibility requiring a firmware udpate. The compatibility issue was with a new Digital Cable set top box input to the dsp.

You may want to try to isolate it to either the pre-pro, amps, or inputs. It always helps me to have some spare equip around for this purpose.
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