i have hummmmmmmm.


i have a hum. i am not a techy. my system consist of the
following.
quicksilver silver 60's mono's
blue circle bc-3
linn lp-12
wadia 15 d/a
m/l 30.5 transport
audio majic silver cables
the amps have there own dedicated 20 amp outlets. one for each amp. when i lift ground with a cheater hum goes away
but i then rec the local gospel radio station. loud and clear. i dont even have a tuner !
my interconnects are shielded. i should mention the interconnects are 6 meters long and because of my setup
are impossible to change. plz help guys.
bluebottle
Not what you may want to hear but with such long ICs, you may want to consider balanced if your electronics will support it.
You mention radio signals when you record. When this occurs, Is the Lynn turntable the source? I ask because improper ground at the turntable and /or phono stage often results in the reception of all kinds of RF signals, even ham radio and CB.

Try improving the grounds at the phono end of the system first. Then, you may be able to float the ground to your amps with no radio AND no hummmmmmmm.
If your cable tv is hooked up to the system in any way check for a ground loop. Turning the cable off is not enough to check. You have to disconnect it from the system.
I would try the turntable ground first also. Things also hummmm when they don't know the words!!
My first guess is that some components are at different ground potential than the other components due to the isolated wiring / outlets. This is PROBABLY due to your house wiring producing a "ground loop". If that is the case, playin with your components will probably not correct this.

This type of situation puts different levels of voltage on the chassis of each component. The result is hum along with the potential for shock & damage to your equipment (especially digital gear). One of my friends experienced an EXTREME case of "ground looping" and was getting "bit" if he touched two different components at once. We measured the difference of ground potential between the two components / outlets as being FOURTY volts !!!!

You somehow need to tie the grounds together between the multiple outlets that you are using so that they all share a common path to ground i.e. "equal ground potential". I ran into this identical problem when going to mono-blocks and it drove me crazy for a while.

Short of doing this, you did not mention if you lifted ground at both amps, one amp and the front end, only at the front end or ungrounded the whole system. Try leaving the two amps grounded and remove ground at the front end and then vice versa. The fact that you have at least three outlets, all with their own circuit paths and possible varying levels of ground, may make it tough to deal with. Ideally, you only want ONE common point of ground for the entire system. How you achieve this could depend on your individual components and how they are wired.

Another quick and dirty test is to pick up an outlet polarity tester. These should be available at a local hardware store or a nearby Radio Shack. This is a very simple device that looks like the male end of a power plug with three different LED's and a chart printed on top of it. You simply plug this into the outlets and it tells you if they are wired in phase, if they have ground, etc...

Keep in mind that just because they show proper wiring and are grounded does NOT mean that they have a LOW resistance ground or that all grounds are "common" or tied in together. It is not uncommon for one electrician to ground the system at one spot ( electrical mains, ground rod, etc...) and then have another electrician ground new wiring at a different spot (cold water pipe, etc). This in itself can create a ground loop. Hope this helps... Sean
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