New Parasound Amp buzzing.

CH46E

My Parasound 2250 v2 (brand new) came today. I hooked it up and there is a bad hum. Does not matter if the speakers are on A or B. I changed inputs and the same thing. I had it plugged into my Belkin PureAV PF60 conditioner that is fed from its own dedicated 10 awg line to the main panel on its own circuit breaker. I tried a house plug on a seperate line. All with the same reaults.

I get no hum when my NAD amp or my HTR is hooked up.

Any idea on what to try next?

Ground lift??
This is very disappointing.

Thanks

CH46E

I read the owners manual! Imagine that. Lol. It stated that if a sat/cable box was hooked up try disconnecting it. I did and the hum reduced a lot. But now all the way. I moved the cable and the direct TV box to another seperate power outlet and unplugged the HDMI cables from the HTR. But there was still some hum. I unplugged the TV ( on a different ac line with the rest of the house ac) and the amp went dead quiet.

So it looks like I need ground lifts for the cable and satellite boxes and the TV.

Is it safe to do that to my TV. I don't really care about the cable and satellite boxes.

cfrizz

A 3 to 2 plug should take care of this hum for you. Get one and report back.

CH46E

A 3 to 2 plug for the amp or the cable and tv?

txcoastal1

Preferably cable and TV but more than likely they are already 2prong plugs, so the amp would be next

CH46E

I did some reading about ground loops. I see that in some cases it can damage equipment.

Is this a larger problem I should be calling an electrician for?

Like a mentioned before I have a dedicated 10awg line feeding a hospital grade receptacle in the closet for all the equipment. In one of the two hospital grade outlets I have the Belkin PureAV power conditioner and the other outlet is empty. Only when I hook up this Parasound is there a hum. I was thinking about purchasing the Emotiva CX-2 that specifically addresses group loop issues. I figured I can plug it into the second outlet on the hospital grade receptacle and just run the amp alone or. The CX2.

The Emotiva cx2 specs can be seen here. https://emotiva.com/products/accessories/cmx-2


Also, the TV that is on a regular outlet on the opposite wall is plugged into a Panamax MD2 surge protector. I tried it with and without the Panamax and the loop noise is still there.


Thanks for the advice guys.

txcoastal1

Check outside and make sure your incoming cable connections ground is still attached. Many get wacked by weedeater etc

CH46E

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Check outside and make sure your incoming cable connections ground is still attached. Many get wacked by weedeater etc

There is a break in the storm, I'll go check right now. Btw, we just had cable tv, phone and internet installed 4 days ago.

txcoastal1

You can also go to your cable splitter and disconnect each cable one at a time

Emlyn

What happens if everything in the system is run from the same circuit? You could run an extension cord temporarily to check the effect. If that resolves the problem you may want to call in an electrician to fix the issue permanently.

I had a similar ground loop problem once running a single system on two circuits in the same room.

cfrizz

CH46E wrote: »

A 3 to 2 plug for the amp or the cable and tv?

Plug the amp into the plug and then into the wall or surge protector.

I have used a cheater plug for 12 years with my amp, and have had no buzz nor any problems.

It is the quickest, cheapest fix to the problem.

Most of these guys will have your tearing apart your entire system, and rewiring your entire home just to fix this, and spending tons of money in the process. Now you might like doing that, but if you don't get the plug and enjoy your system.

txcoastal1

The problem with removing grounds Cathy is that the equipment is more prone to damage from spikes, surges, and storm damage. I am a commercial integrator (over 25yrs) and like to eliminate the cause if possible.

Paradoxex

I had a similar issue when I finished setting up my basement. The hum was really bad, especially from my SVS sub. It turned out to be the coax for the cable.

What worked for me was grounding everything to the same device. I have a sneaking suspicion that you haven't run the coax cables involved to the PureAV before running them to the source. You need to run the cable coaxes, however many there are, to the PureAV conditioner that everything else is plugged to. Then run them to the TV or cable box or whatever. If you run them from the wall to the cable box/TV without grounding them as described above, you are introducing the differential ground hum into your system. The amplifier is...wait for it....amplifying that hum and thus you have the annoying issue you cite.

I could be wrong, but I had a subwoofer that hummed at 60hz mercilessly until I fixed the issue. The sub wasn't even plugged in on the same outlet as the rest of the system, but it received a sound signal from the AV that was afflicted with the ground hum, so the sub amplified it all the same.

Try that....not much more expensive, if at all, than a cheater plug and safer.

CH46E

Winner winner chicken dinner! Paradoxe you were right. When I read your post it went on like a explosion. I have my direct TV coax ran through the PureAV. But forgot to reply run the cable TV coax through it. I did that and there was a improvement but there was still some hum. I unplugged the HDMI out on my HTR, (the only connection between my TV and the system) and the hum went away 100%. For not I took an old power strip and pulled the third/ground prong. Plugged it in and the TV came on and viola..... no hum.

Thank you everyone for the help! I am now getting to listen to the amp. So far so good!
As of fight now I'm going to say this amp has a very crisp high. Lots of sparkle. Going to have to adjust the treble a little.

F1nut

Your amp needs to burn in, 200 hours should do it.

CH46E

F1nut wrote: »

Your amp needs to burn in, 200 hours should do it.

Funny you mentioned that. I had been searching the net for articles in that subject. I know new caps in speakers need to burn in.

I'm hopeful that the amp will warm up in sound!

While it will get several hours of use everyday, should I just leave the amp on all night as well?

Nightfall

CH46E wrote: »

should I just leave the amp on all night as well?

I never shut mine off. Well, unless there's lightning then I shut everything off and unplug it all from the wall.

mikeyb128

leaving it on at idle will help break in. my amp sounds better after sitting idling for at least 24 hours.

CH46E

Been on idle with some use for the last 36 hours or so. I'll go give it a listen in an hour or so.

Maybe I'll get some of my DVD-Audio discs out. Only one of three boxes they could be in. Lol

jeremymarcinko

FYSA..The Emotiva CX-2 solves transformer hum from DC offset, not ground loop hums. I have one and it works well for its intended purpose, but wouldn't have helped your situation.

Glad you got it solved.

CH46E

Good to know! Thanks.

skrol

I had buzzing in my Parasound amp when I had the pre-amp and the amp plugged into different circuits. When plugged into the same circuit there is no buzzing.