Some makes and models of amp will hum, some will hum less, and some will not hum at all when plugged in, in certain houses. Some individual examples of a given amp may hum and others may not. I've had no hum and variable degrees of hum from different amps, and one nearly drove me crazy: it had mechanical hum at the amp and hummed through the speakers. I tried it in every room of the house, and it was always the same. I also brought in 10-12 different boxes of conditioners, DC blockers, ground lifters, transformers, etc. etc., and not a single one cured the problem. The fact that you get different results in different rooms tells me that the place to start for you is with an electrician, rather than with an extra piece of equipment.
Can moving wire location at circuit breaker reduce hum?
The power line going into my music room will oftentimes make the amps’ transformers hum. I’ve tried many things but have had no luck. If I take any component that’s humming into a different room run on a different circuit breaker, the hum disappears.
Would swapping out the wires that go into the two separate rooms at the breaker make any difference? Or is it more likely that one of the outlets on the circuit that goes into my music room is somehow miswired and is causing the hum? I can unplug everything from the circuit except for my amp and it still hums.
Any suggestions on what I might be able to do short of hiring someone to run a dedicated line?
Thanks,
Mamoru
- ...
- 52 posts total
Plus 1 @erik_squires Another question, do you use LED lights on a dimmer switch? Not sure why, but I’ve issues when I used an outlet on the same circuit for a HT receiver. All the Best. JD |
I have used modern dimmers without a problem, but the older LED power supplies were awful. The problem is they would only take power from one direction of the AC signal. If the AC signal goes to +140 V and turns around and does -140V, and you have relatively high impedance on the wiring then you suck down one side, making it +135 to -140 and voila, DC. |
OP: One other thing to consider is, how old is your house?? If those are older outlets or using back-stabbed connectors they need to go. You can get good commercial grade / tamper resistant outlets for ~ $4 a piece. So far in this 17 year old home I've replaced 28 light switches and about 20 outlets, including 7 GFCI outlets. Given how many issues I found I'm glad I did. |
- 52 posts total