Shield Amp from preamp? suggestions?


Recently got a Classe Cav-301...Placed it on the rack below my Integra Research Pre...I know they are affecting each other because of a slight buzz, the music and HT sounds slightly thin...and even on the digital volume display on my Integra I can see it sometimes "jitter"....When I first tested the amp I had it on the floor and it sounded awsome, but in the rack I hear the slight loss of quality..even in the Classe manual it says to keep the amp a few feet away from preamps, turntables etc. .Now of course I could move the amp, however this involves major reconstruction, new cables , power cords etc. Is there a simple way to shield the amp from the preamp like placing some type of shield under the preamp? THX
darrylhifi
There is something called mu-metal, which is used in shielding magnetic fields and should also work against electrical fields. You can probably find sellers if you perform an internet search. For full effect, you may want to partially wrap one of the components in a sheet of this relatively soft metal, rather than just put a sheet between the amp and preamp. If you wrap, don't forget to provide for component ventilation. Alternatively, for electrical insulation (versus magnetic), a sheet of copper attached to a ground might be adequate and easier to obtain. I have seen some lab applications where a grounded copper screen has been effective, allowing air flow and visual transparency. Good luck.
Purist Audio manufacturers an isolation base that you can place between the two components. I have had good success with these and their appearance is attractive (gloss black plate).
Are you sure that it is the amp and not just cables crossing over each other? Try isolating cables (only hook up one source, 2 speakers) and try it. Could it be a ground loop? Are you using a line conditioner? Final thought, can you turn the gain down on the amp?