Hope this helps someone with RFI problems


I have been living with a severe RFI, or what I thought was an RFI problem for quite some time. At high volumes, I was able to get an Oldies FM station signal out of my speakers when I listened to vinyl. Moreover, I always thought that the sound was lacking in detail and dynamics.

I tried EVERYTHING. Changed phono stages, bought ferrite clamps, strange paper stuff to put on top of my equipment, cable wraps, I even used tin foil over cabling. Changed the location of my equipment numerous times. Bought new cables, etc. I was even considering selling my tube based system and going solid state.

Some things worked alittle, some were a total waste of money and time. Was eventually able to dampen the radio station but there was still alot of noise. Needless to say I was aggravated.

On a whim, last week I brought an APC Smart-UPS unit home from work and installed it in my system. Turns out, the radio station and all the interferance was actually coming from my AC. My house is one big antenna.

The detail is stunning, dynamics are incredible. The music sounds like music again. Needless to say, I already purchased a PS Audio powerplant to replace the APC UPS unit.

I hope this helps someone with the same type of problems effecting their system. I really could not be any happier right now as I have been trying to get rid of the noise problems for 2 years.

-Rich
rich62
Rich,
Thanks for the thoughtful, and I'm sure helpful, post for a lot of people. I wonder if there is an easier way of eliminating this RFI without getting an expensive power conditioner?
I am curious, do you have dedicated circuits for your audio? Dedicated circuits eliminated huge amounts of noise in my system and the best tweek for the money. Glad you got results.
Rich, I've had the same problem for years. Mine is pretty low level RFI, but annoying nonetheless. Thanks for sharing your discovery!