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Levinson 33H buzzing on standby

Hi All,
I just noticed that my pair of Levinson 33H emits a buzzing sound from the tweeter when it is on Standby (blinking red).

When the amps are turned on, the buzzing sound goes away and is replaced with a slight hissing sound.

When I connect the speakers to my Levinson 433, there is no buzzing...so I'm guessing its not my power/equipment that is causing the problem.

I took the amps into my local service shop and they are telling me that its "normal" behaviour.

Does anyone (perhaps someone with 33Hs) confirm this is normal?

Thanks, Ray
raysam
ellyjr
97 posts
 
Probably a Leaking capacitors. I had a Levinson no.336. Had the same problem, The capasitors went bad. Replacing the caps fixed the problem.
Levinson 33 series amps have this problem, they have to be replaced every 5-8 yrs.
dollysowner
47 posts
 
I owned a pair of 33H's for 9 years. There was never an issue with buzzing and hiss. Are you sure there haven't been any component or wiring changes in your system, which might be causing ground loops or picking up RF?

However, I believe Ellyjr's observation is incorrect when it comes to the 33H's. The problem to which he was referring applies to the 330 series amplifiers (331-336), where the capacitors definitely go bad after a period of time and have to be replaced.
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Call Levinson and ask them to trouble shoot your system. Make sure everything is the same as with your 433 setup...same outlets, cords, IC's, preamp etc..
raysam OP
1 posts
 
Thanks to all for the responses.

The tech was able to repro the buzzing sound just by hooking up a power cord and a speaker at his facility...so I don't think it has anything to do with my connection or equipment.

The tech called Levinson/Harmon and talked to one of two only remaining technicals from pre-Harmon days and was told that the sound is normal and not indicative of anything wrong or about to go wrong.

So now, they don't think there is a problem. Sigh...

Is it worth asking him to replace the capacitors?

Ray
missioncoonery
1,237 posts
 
IMO replace the caps..I had the same issue years ago with that amp,amoung a couple other problems..Be prepared if sending to factory to be out that amp for some time..
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