Need help finding cause of hum


I'd appreciate input on something I just noticed. The right channel of my system is producing a very soft, low level (low db) hum right on power up and with the volume all the way down. It's only noticeable with your ear an inch from the midrange/bass driver. It doesn't change level if the volume is increased. It is not audible when playing music. It has done this with 2 different amps (1 brand new). It does this whether or not input sources are connected. It does this whether the ground between TT and phono-pre is connected or not. When I switched the left speaker/cable to the right amp output and right speaker/cable to the left output - the hum moved to the left. So I thought, hmmm, problem with amp. But it is now doing this with a brand new amp. When I reversed speaker placement (Right to Left & Left to Right) - cables staying in place - the hum stayed on the right coming out of what had been the left channel speaker. The hum is only heard on the right. The left is totally silent. I usually run the amp plugged into one wall outlet and other gear out of an APC H10 power conditioner plugged into a different outlet on that wall. I tried plugging the amp into the amp power outlet on the back of the APC but the hum remained. I tried plugging both pieces (H10 & amp) into the same wall outlet. The hum remained. I thought this might be some type of ground loop hum but from what I've read, it doesn't seem consistent. It is only out of the right channel and barely audible. It is more a curiosity than annoyance at this point but I am concerned about the possibility of some sort of induced, stray current causing damage. Any ideas you might provide will be very much appreciated.
128x128ghosthouse
Try moving the amp to a different location. It could be induced by magnetic field nearby.
Sounds like you've investigated pretty thoroughly and logically. But I'm not sure what is meant by this statement:

When I reversed speaker placement (Right to Left & Left to Right) - cables staying in place - the hum stayed on the right coming out of what had been the left channel speaker.

Does that mean that each cable remained connected to the speaker it was originally connected to, and you moved the left speaker and its cable to the right side of the room, and moved the right speaker and its cable to the left side of the room? Or does it mean that the cables remained on their original sides, but the speakers themselves were moved (with the cables being disconnected and then reconnected to the other speaker which was moved to that side)?

Also, I think that Sid's suggestion sounds well worth trying. And re your last question, I wouldn't worry about damage resulting from this hum. Whatever is causing it is producing the equivalent of a very low level signal, which would seem unlikely to be harmful in any way that I can envision.

Regards,
-- Al
I would say if you haven't tried, see how the cables are oriented between the amp and the speaker. Any power supplys or AC cords near the right and not the left? Also have you checked the pre to amp cable routing? Another switch I would try is Pre to Amp reversale Lt for Rt and see if the hum switchs to the Lt channel. Also I will add that about 2 weeks ago I thought I have apower supply hum in my amp and determined that it was a wall wart powersupply for my Littlite TT lamp. You might check any of those plugged in to the same circuit. They are usually a pretty lower quaility power supply and can induce noise.
You've done a lot of good investigation without success. I think this dictates that you go back to the simplist way to solve the 'mystery hum' problem.

Disconnect everything. Unplug every thing. Then connect your speakers to you amp and plug the amp into the wall outlet. Any hum? No - then add one item, starting with the power conditioner. Listen. No hum - connect the pre-amp to the amp. No hum - plug the pre-amp in. No hum - turn it on. Etc thru all your stuff. When the hum reappears you've ID'd your problem.

PS Don't forget to turn the amp off between each change. It is easy to forget to do.