Obviously no one is reading the post. The OP changed out three amps, all had hum, albeit to a different degree. So the problem isn’t the Parasound or any other amp, it is a problem with your power and the Parasound is more affected by it. Do you have any fluorescent lights, dimmers, led lights or other noise producing things on that circuit? Particularly dimmers... they are notorious. You could have a ground loop, you could have a faulty interconnect. Not an easy problem to nail down, start with any dimmers etc. they are the easy ones.
"Amplifier Noise Floor" and hum acceptable?
I recently purchased the Parasound A52+ (5 channel amplifier, 180 wpc all ch driven). Initially I loved it and had no issues. About 2 weeks in however I was sitting around quietly and noticed the dreaded 60 hz hum. I get up close to the speaker midrange driver (Focal Aria 936) and there it is blaring at me. It is present in all 5 speakers I have connected. Everything is connected on a single dedicated receptacle with a power conditioner.
Trouble shooting.. the hum is not affected by volume control on the preamp. When I have removed the XLR cables to the preamp and ONLY have the speaker cables and the power cable connected... it hums. I did recently change my receptacle from a stock to a Hubbell but I don't think this would affect it. I upgraded my power conditioner too to see if that would do anything (I didn't think it would) and it did not. I switched the parasound out for a class D amp (120 wpc) and there was almost no hum. I switched it out for another class AB amp (140 wpc) and there was a hum but about half the volume of the parasound.
So here's the gist.. when I emailed parasound tech support there are 2 things he said that I thought were noteworthy. One, he states that it is typical and normal to have some hum that close to the speaker baffle, i.e. within 1 foot of it. Second, while I asked for help he ultimately just said "I think you are just hearing the amplifier noise floor".
Three questions I pose to the community.
Is it normal to hear a hum next to your speak baffle?
Is it acceptable and normal to be hearing the "amplifier noise floor"?
What can I try to lower this noise floor? I thought about connecting a ground wire between the chassis of the A52 and my power conditioner as the next step...
Thanks in advance for input.
Trouble shooting.. the hum is not affected by volume control on the preamp. When I have removed the XLR cables to the preamp and ONLY have the speaker cables and the power cable connected... it hums. I did recently change my receptacle from a stock to a Hubbell but I don't think this would affect it. I upgraded my power conditioner too to see if that would do anything (I didn't think it would) and it did not. I switched the parasound out for a class D amp (120 wpc) and there was almost no hum. I switched it out for another class AB amp (140 wpc) and there was a hum but about half the volume of the parasound.
So here's the gist.. when I emailed parasound tech support there are 2 things he said that I thought were noteworthy. One, he states that it is typical and normal to have some hum that close to the speaker baffle, i.e. within 1 foot of it. Second, while I asked for help he ultimately just said "I think you are just hearing the amplifier noise floor".
Three questions I pose to the community.
Is it normal to hear a hum next to your speak baffle?
Is it acceptable and normal to be hearing the "amplifier noise floor"?
What can I try to lower this noise floor? I thought about connecting a ground wire between the chassis of the A52 and my power conditioner as the next step...
Thanks in advance for input.
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- 23 posts total
- 23 posts total