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Help! Is my new McIntosh MA12000 broken?

Hi, can you please help me?

I bought my first McIntosh amp, MA12000 and it is making a pretty loud hum.

It does not come from the loudspeakers.

The hum comes from the amp itself. 

With or without any sources connected to the amp make no difference to the hum.

I`m a bit surprised that such an expensive amp is so noisy. 

Do you think there is something wrong with the amp or is it supposed to make that humming noise?

Any and all answers are very much appreciated.

hifilover87
vonhelmholtz
911 posts
 

Mine is 100% quiet.

I did not have a good experience with Macintosh service when the DAC went out. The factory response was really pitiful. I finally had the DAC module replaced by my dealer.

zlone
657 posts
 

Not an expert on this, but if the sound is coming from the amp itself I think it means you have some DC on your AC power line and it is making your transformers hum. Look into a DC blocker, I think there are several options out there. ( e.g. HumDinger)

hgeifman
2,191 posts
 

+1, install a DC Blocker to see if that stops the hum. And, if not, Return the amp to your retailer ASAP. Please keep us posted. For example, please this link:

DC BLOCKER

Or, maybe try a less expensive DC Blocker from your local hardware store. 

toro3's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
toro3
331 posts
 

I had significant transformer hum from my small tube amp when I moved to a new residence years ago. Purchased the Emotiva CMX-2, which completely addressed the issue. Worth a try. 

 

 

hgeifman
2,191 posts
 

+1, “Contact your retailer and have them take care of the problem for you”. 

This might be better than my previous suggestion of using a DC Blocker. Your Retailer should know the best way to handle this. Please keep us posted.

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