Tearing my hair out over annoying speaker buzz - please help !

[swayzak]

hi

I have:

CA A3i amp
Project Debut II turntable
old Marantz CD player
Cerwin Vega AT-60 speakers

I'm getting a constant buzzing sound through the speakers - fairly quiet but definitely noticable, even across the room.

This buzz is unaffected by the amp's volume setting.

If I crank the volume high though, another 2nd buzz comes in on top of the first.

I've tried unplugging all sources but the 1st buzz remains - the only way to get rid of it is press the "mute" button on amp.

It's really spoiling enjoyment of this system.

Could it be something wrong with the amp ?

Or a groundloop ?

How can I work it out ? I do have a 2nd ancient QED amp so I suppose one thing would be to connect the sources / speakers to this ... ?

Be great if I could just pay for someone to come round and sort it out for me .

thanks

swayzak

 

[Anonymous]

I had an annoying speaker buzz that vanished when I plugged all my kit into a Tacima CS929 mains conditioning block. All that was left was a faint hissing from the tweeters, but you had to put your ear right up to them to hear it. You can get one of these from eBay for as little as £28 inc p&p, and it'll make your kit sound better too.

Maybe you're right and you have an amp problem. If you have another amp to hand, it's probably worth swapping it over just to see what happens.

 

[Anonymous]

Yea I'd try the other amp as if there is a piece of equipment a fault it certainly sounds like the amp. I remember my dad saying a few years back if you get that problem you should turn the balance knob right round to one side and cane some music loud through that speaker (as loud as you can stand i guess??) for 30 secs or so, and then the same again with the knob right round to the other channel. This works but the problem I had didn't sound as bad as your's...there was some grainy background noise there but not really a buzz, and certainly couldn't hear it without being a meter or closer to the speaker...who knows bt its worth a try!

 

[peanutfrenzy]

I'm going to agree with the consensus here and suggest you try swapping-out your amp first.

A couple of other things spring to mind too. Are there any other devices plugged in to the same socket as your hi-fi - such as lamps with dimmers, fridges/freezers or industrial machinery

? If so try moving it elsewhere. Likewise, is there any large non-hi-fi equipment physically near your system? Again, move it. And, as previously mentioned, mains conditioners don't have to be expensive and would make a good addition to your system, whether it cures this particular problem or not. You could also try using a different mains lead and a different wall socket just in case you have an earth fault, but this seems unlikely. And if you've tried unplugging all of the sources then I think you've proven it's not a ground loop. I wouldn't worry too much about the 2nd buzz if it only occurs when you turn the volume right up - unless you go for battery power just about every amplifier in existence will pick-up mains noise to some extent, but at normal listening levels it shouldn't be in any way audible.

Ultimately though, my suspicion is that the amp's power supply is at fault - possibly one of the smoothing capacitors that feeds the power amp stage has succumbed to age and isn't smoothing as well as it should.

 

[swayzak]

thankyou all - I will explore the recommended avenues