Hegel hum?

hum out of speaker indicative of ground loop 

hum out of box indicative of DC offset causing toroidal vibration

hums are annoying. You might try a DC filter ...ala,

https://avahifi.com/collections/accessories/products/humdinger-dc-line-blocker

Props to all who responded above. Very thoughtful and correct advice.

If you’re not hearing a hum/buzzing from the speakers your concerns should be minimal.

The Hegel integrated amps don’t turn off/on. They switch between standby (very low power consumption) to on (full power & ready to rock)

When transitioning between standby and on the system will fully saturate with current. In so doing the first thing in the chain which is that large transformer will charge up. Charging up is a physical process where the transformer’s copper wires wrapped around the core can micro-vibrate and can cause noise (hum).

This process should stop and the unit should be very quiet after warm up. If the hum persists, then as described by the proper comments above, there is some order of DC imbalance.

If you’re not hearing it from the speakers and can’t hear the physical hum from the amp at your listening position does it matter? I hope you enjoy your listening experience.

As the OP I offer thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I’ve never spent this much on a stereo component and was hoping for some assurance that nothing was amiss. From now on I’ll resume my listening position and enjoy the music.

You may try to contact Hegel and explain to their technical support staff this issue..? I would return such amp to manufacturer, if no help etc.. Foot away hum isn’t good, few inches could be okay..

I had many amps, and the only accuphase designs have zero transformer related hum noise. some transformers can be fixed by potting them in qualified epoxy, or putting transformers on shock absorbing spacers.

In fifty years of owning high end audio equipment I have never heard a hum coming from any of my components.