• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

McIntosh Transformer causing noise in speakers while disconnected.

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
21,669
Likes
21,954
Location
Canada
@Hayabusa
Another idea I have is that if the rectifier is distorting the ~60 Hz waveform then the waveform slope could be distorted and appear as a ~40 Hz slope where the software takes a sample?
 
Last edited:

Hayabusa

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 12, 2019
Messages
847
Likes
593
Location
Abu Dhabi
I was wondering about that too and gave up on explaining them to myself.
the source is a symmetrically clipped 60Hz.
This will give you all odd harmonics:
60*3 180
60*5 300
60*7 420
etc..
 

Hayabusa

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 12, 2019
Messages
847
Likes
593
Location
Abu Dhabi
@Hayabusa
So if 60.07 Hz then why would the software trigger on a ~40 Hz slope?
Is it poor slope/trigger levels and poor software programming or simply not reliable?
I am accustomed to analogue instrumentation where the trigger level is adjustable by slope or voltage and these issues like with the software simply do not exist.
As there is also a 40Hz component there for full duration of the clip. What sw are talking of btw?

EDIT: 40Hz is not there for the full duration.... , must be an other effect with the selected audio clip
Its 46.5 Hz...
 
Last edited:

Hayabusa

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 12, 2019
Messages
847
Likes
593
Location
Abu Dhabi

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
21,669
Likes
21,954
Location
Canada
As there is also a 40Hz component there for full duration of the clip. What sw are talking of btw?
The softwares used by the peeps here.>>> @Golf what software did you use to sample the FFT here?
index.php

index.php

index.php

index.php
 

Hayabusa

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Oct 12, 2019
Messages
847
Likes
593
Location
Abu Dhabi
The softwares used by the peeps here.>>> @Golf what software did you use to sample the FFT here?
index.php

index.php

index.php

index.php
I also used audacity..

But the first picture with the 'peak at 40Hz' has with an fft of 2048 only a resolution of +/-20Hz.
The sw interpolates this to a smoother graph, suggesting more resolution that is not really there.
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
21,669
Likes
21,954
Location
Canada
I also used audacity..

But the first picture with the 'peak at 40Hz' has with an fft of 2048 only a resolution of +/-20Hz.
The sw interpolates this to a smoother graph, suggesting more resolution that is not really there.
IC. Thank you.
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
21,669
Likes
21,954
Location
Canada
This is making much more sense than all that jazz before. :D It was getting wayyy too complicated and evolving into too many far out possibilities. :D
 

restorer-john

Grand Contributor
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
12,785
Likes
39,197
Location
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
$50 scope

View attachment 362327
(Hypex "zeroline")

I cannot believe you bought one of those too! :)

IMG_3070.jpg


Sad you cannot use the gen and the DSO at the same time, but it's a cute little thing isn't it? The voltmeter is useless, as it the component tester, and the IR decoder is worse, but for $50, the DSO isn't horrible. I like it for giggles.

Get a few of these from Ali so you don't tear out the jacks:

IMG_3071.jpg
 
OP
C

ClassG33

Active Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2024
Messages
106
Likes
81
***FINAL UPDATE***
Photos of setup attached, and I'm quite proud of the cable management say what you will :`) No cables touch the ground and the routing of power cables to avoid analog cables is probably the best I can do in this space.
20240414_011518.jpg
20240414_011829.jpg
20240414_011935.jpg
20240414_013201.jpg
20240414_013349.jpg


Yooo I'm sorry to leave the thread hanging!! I started a new job pretty out of the blue and have been very busy so this had to wait. So:

New MC255 Amp is in, and setup is complete.
-Regarding the unboxing: As mentioned, aesthetically prestine, unlike previous. Packaging even came with little bead satchel packaging freshener, which made me feel warm and fuzzy inside :`)

-Regarding Internal amp surge noise when powering on: SO QUIET!! When powering on the previous amp, the surge noise was strong, and lasted up to a couple of seconds. When I put my ear up to the chassis, I could hear the Transformer and Power Supply on the inside. It also drew a solid peak of 6-8Amps when it powered on, but immediately went down to normal. The new one good as silent on the inside. This was very assuring.

Regarding sending noise to disconnected speakers with zero connections other than power: WAYYYYYYYY BETTER holy FFSFSFSF!! So relieved!! BUT, it still happens. I am chalking it up to poor shielding on the B&W speakers, but I am not sure still. This happens all the time in Pro-Audio setups with much lower end gear, but this was the first time I've noticed with Hifi gear. I recently put a Mac 1.25k mono block right next to a 802D4 speaker in a showroom, then next to a KEF BLADE II, and indeed the same thing happened on both speakers. Although it was so minimal I highly doubt anybody has probably ever noticed this. But the fact that it happens in other setups tells me that you probably have to spend some goooood money to find speakers shielded enough to deal with amps of this magnitude. I am chalking it up as unavoidable, but negligible. At this point, the noise from my analog cables are creating more noise (as opposed to the opposite before) and that is a good thing.

- **Seeking Advice on this one**
Regarding General Noise: On top of the things I've been working on, I am also suspicious that I have a grounding issue somewhere. I get a definite 60hz noise/buzz when I plug in the RCA interconnects. This was previously unnoticeable because of the noise from the amp, but now that that is better, a new noise has become apparent. There is a little noise from the speaker cables, but the interconnects introduce the most noise at this point soon as they're connected from AVR/PRE to Amp.
I've tried:
A) All sources on same outlet/circuit/ surge protector.
B) No sources connected, just AVR/Pre,PowerAmp, each interconnect one by one between the two.
C) When turning up volume knob, the only noise that increases is the highest hissy frequencies, but these do not start to increase until 80% gain or so.
D) AVR/PRE by itself and sources, without power amp. This was clean by itself.
So, how do I ground the amp to the AVR within a grounding cable? There isn't a specified screw on the amp for this, and I do not want to try somewhere stupid and damage anything.

Thank you all for being on this journey with me. It was 100% a defective amp, and everything sounds amazing as one would expect. I love B&W so much, and I love what McIntosh does to the sound. The pairing is so brilliant for my ears and my heart was literally broken the entire time I dealt with this process. I learned so much, I love this Forum!! Thank you!!!!
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
21,669
Likes
21,954
Location
Canada
Welcome back! Hmmz... Grounding issues are not my forte. They can be insidious issues that cause all sorts of stuff. I best leave this one for one of the local experts more knowledgeable than I. Great to see you are nearly 100% of the way completing your system to your satisfaction. :D
 
Top Bottom