Tacima cs929 Mains conditioner query

[admin_exported]

When TV (Panasonic 37" plasma) is plugged into the tacima it creates a lot of mains interference which can be heard through the amp (arcam alpha 9) when the amp is plugged into the tacima or even into another wall socket.

If the tv is not plugged into the tacima then there is no interference.

Has anybody else come across this problem? Is this a faulty tacima?

Thanks!

 

[chebby]

What about when neither the amp or the TV are plugged into the Tacima?

 

[Anonymous]

I am a typical Gen-X... my father can strip and repair and then rebuild anything... where as I break out in sweats when I am faced with putting up a shelf.

So when it comes to fault finding I am the worlds worst... so that alone should give you hope, because I reckon that you can take this on.

You need to replace every cable one at a time until the buzzing stops, power to begin with and if that does not do it then interconnects and so and and so forth.

By doing so you will isolate the faulty cable... once that has done you can replace it. I do not think (although someone with a better understanding of electronics may correct me) that Tacima would put a product that does not work on certain products...

 

[Anonymous]

Is that a trick question?

well i sorta bought the tacima to give the tv a better picture and better sound from the amp

I might just be imagining it but the amp does not sound better on it (sounds softer, consticted, less dynamic), the dac i think sounds different, maybe better, sweeter, warmer. when dvd is on tacima i think it gives better picture, the tv i think has better picure too on it.

But i cant put the tv on it because it makes such a racket on the hifi, which i use for tv sound.

The dac seems to put a little bit of the same sort of noise on the hifi too when on the tacima.

I thought these things were suppose to clean up the mains not make it worse!!

 

[True Blue]

In my setup I run the reciever direct from the wall socket with the tacima running everything else. It is possible that the tacima limits the maximum amount of current available, therefore reducing dynamics (oomph) of high power units (amps / recievers etc).

 

[Anonymous]

Bloatedgut..... Yea that is a good idea, maybe take all of the interconnects out for starters because it makes the noise with volume at 0

I have taken all of the other plugs out except for the tv and amp and it still makes the noise.

So start taking all cables out one at a time, maybe the scarts as well?

Cheers for the help, this will be a fun afternoon!

 

[True Blue]

To add to my last, the interference / hum sounds like an earth grounding issue, if it definately is coming from the tv then check the earth connections in the plug if you can. Make sure the cable is fully housed and check the cable visually for breaks or nicks. Also if you are electrically competant, remove the wall socket and check all connections in there (with the mains power OFF)

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe i need those audiophile screened power cables?

 

[Anonymous]

The noise is like a mains hum but more buzzy and scratchy (if that even describes anything!)

The noise does not come out of the tv, it comes out of the amp (well obviously not the amp but the speakers)

Mmmm so grounding issue you think then....

the tv is newish and the cable is in vgc so dont think that, try a different cable for the amp maybe, see if i can hoak one out.

 

[lastcoyote]

Ah...how interesting Aquafitter...i've just experienced something very similar with my Plasma connected to the Tacima. Check out my post on it here: http://community.whathifi.com/forums/t/288912.aspx

 

[lastcoyote]

As you'll read in the post, i've got a Clearer Audio Copper-line Alpha power cable from the Pioneer Plasma as well and yet I still get the fuzzy noise through the speakers if the Plasma is connected to the Tacima. The only thing that differs with what you said is that I only hear the noise through the speakes if the volume is turned up a fair amount. Not noticeable at 0.

If it's just plugged in to a wall socket though the noise goes away. So i've decided to keep everything else plugged in to the Tacima's and just plug the Plasma on it's own in a seperate surge protected mains block. This works fine.

I emailed Tacima about it and this is what they said:

"This happens on rare occasions due to interferance generated by your kit which is fed into the speakers as it cant escape back into the mains. You need an isolated block, these are around £345 unfortunately"

..Maybe not so rare then!

 

[Anonymous]

Ahhh thanks lastcoyote! just read your post, very interesting, so you say that plasmas and tacimas don't get on? too much current draw?

So what was your findings in the end? just keep the plasma on it's own socket?

What i don't get is why the dac would put a similar noise on the system too. It is drawing very little current. I thought it might be something to do with it being a switched power supply on the tv and dac but then i thought that probably most gear except for amps, cd players use them?

 

[lastcoyote]

you may have missed my post just above your last one. but yeah i've kept the plasma seperate plugged in to a surge protected standard mains 4 way block. i'm not sure why your dac is doing it too though. strange.

i'm getting better results for my plasma though with the clearer audio mains lead. so i'd recommend you get one of those for your screen.

 

[Anonymous]

Indeed not so rare then!

OK so next purchase a power cable and just leave tv in the wall socket.

Tacima were very helpful weren't they? £345 is a bit steep to fix a problem i didn't even know i had day before yesterday!

 

[True Blue]

Aquafitter:
Ahhh thanks lastcoyote! just read your post, very interesting, so you say that plasmas and tacimas don't get on? too much current draw?

Not at all. No problems with my Plasma. Like I said its an earth loop problem. Try disconnecting everthing in order till it goes away. Also have a good tidy up of your cables making sure the power supplies go no where near speaker cables / interconnects etc. Check the connections on your sub also.

 

[lastcoyote]

To be fair to Tacima the reply I got was pretty quick. Just not the answer I was looking for. Would be helpful to know if others have encountered this problem. I'd like to know what in the Tacima is different to a standard cheap 6 way / 4 way block which introduces this noise with a Plasma connected to it? What's interesting is that the amp and other bits are plugged into a completely seperate Tacima block so i'd of thought that the Tacima with the Plasma would be sending the noise back in to the whole mains circuit.

 

[lastcoyote]

True Blue..i've done this and the noise only goes away when the Plasma cable is removed from a Tacima. Everything else works fine plugged in to them.

I too thought about the mains stuff being near speaker cables but then why do i not get this problem with the Plasma plugged in to a cheap standard 4 way mains block?

 

[Anonymous]

I am gonna have to jump on True Blue's bandwagon on this one!

I does appear to be some funky strange earth loop issue going on.

I now have the tv on the tacima hum free!

I took all the interconnects out of the back of the amp and put the tv in the tacima, no hum.

Replaced interconnects until i found that the interconnect from the dvd player to the amp was causing the problem, but only if the scart from the tv to dvd player was connected as well. Weird. Interconnect not faulty cos i swapped for others, same thing.

The hum coming from the beresford DAC is from the maplin power supply, if the original power supply is used then hum disappears.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[lastcoyote]

weirdorama! hmmm. i may have to check out interconnects as well then.

so are you saying that you don't get the noise if you take the interconnect out..but leave the scart in? coz if the interconnect is ok if the scart is not plugged in that makes me think it more a problem with the scart.

anyway i may have a fiddle again somewhen.

 

[Anonymous]

weirdorama! yea that about sums it up!

Scart in + interconnect in = hum

Scart in + no interconnect = no hum

No scart + Interconnect in = no hum

Tried 2 different scarts both high quality ones and multiple interconnects, same result.

Bit miffed about the dac though, i really wanted it on the tacima with the maplin power supply and not the supplied one cos it sounds better, but the buzzing is pretty loud, maybe try another tacima like yourself. Gonna get some new power cables soon anyway so will have a fiddle again then see if anything works there.

But with your experience it sounds like the screened cables don't have an effect on the buzzing? But good for sound/pic quality anyway?

 

[True Blue]

Aquafitter:
I am gonna have to jump on True Blue's bandwagon on this one!

I does appear to be some funky strange earth loop issue going on.

I now have the tv on the tacima hum free!

I took all the interconnects out of the back of the amp and put the tv in the tacima, no hum.

Replaced interconnects until i found that the interconnect from the dvd player to the amp was causing the problem, but only if the scart from the tv to dvd player was connected as well. Weird. Interconnect not faulty cos i swapped for others, same thing.

The hum coming from the beresford DAC is from the maplin power supply, if the original power supply is used then hum disappears.

Thanks for all the advice!

Glad to hear its sorted, has your DVD player got a componant out rather than scart? Worth a punt.

 

[lastcoyote]

Ok...are you ready for this..

I too have now found the source of the hum.....

The simple explanation is that I only get the hum if both my Plasma and CD player are plugged into the mains AND connected in some way to my Hifi Amp.

Also I've now realised I not only get it when the equipment is plugged in to the Tacima but also into a standard mains block or even in the wall sockets probably...although for some reason it's just more pronounced when going through the Tacima's.

I capitalized the word 'AND' above because if both Plasma and CD player are plugged in to the mains but not actually connected to my Hifi Amp by interconnects then there's no hum.
The CD player is of course connected to the Hifi Amp by a simple interconnect. The Plasma is connected to my Hifi Amp by a longer route.....from Plasma there is an HDMI cable going to the AV Amp and then an interconnect from the AV Amp's Pre-Out (front speakers) to an Auxilary input in the Hifi Amp. And that's the connection from the Plasma to the Hifi Amp. I know this because if everythings plugged in and I then unplug the HDMI cable from the Plasma..the hum goes.

So basically for some reason my Plasma and CD player are interfering with each other...and thus causing this hum through my Hifi Amp in to the speakers. Again if everything is plugged in and I either unplug the Plasma from the mains...the hum goes. Or if everything is plugged in and I just unplug the CD player from the mains..the hum goes.

Strange huh!...what can I do about this?

or more importantly does anyone have a clue what I've just written above?

 

[rod1429]

I think you have some sort of ground loop:

See here for explanation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity)

 

[lastcoyote]

yes that does sound very much like what it is.

hmmm...so the quick reply I got from Tacima was actually probably spot on. I need an 'isolation block' as he put it. guess that's the same thing as an isolation transformer as the wikipedia article refers too..

are there good affordable ones available, and how would I go about using one in my setup? this has slightly gone off the Tacima subject now I guess. strange though how the noise is enhanced when the equipment is plugged in to these though...

 

[Anonymous]

Mmmm all very intersting......

There does seem to be a pattern emerging!

My plasma on scart with dvd player and interconnect = hum

Your plasma on hdmi with cd player and interconnect = hum

Plasma seems to be the common link and the biggest offender as it seems to have the most effect?

Try changing plug positions? Put dvd/cd tv and amp on the one tacima? Maybe the tacima is creating a slightly different ground potential than with a standard block? Is that why the tacima seems to accentuate the problem?