Why none of us audiophiles still cannot completely get rid of the "hum" in this day and age?

[Galliardist]

The high end community will decide that old fashioned mains are better. Solar power is dry and harsh sounding.

Only until someone makes nano and quantum- improved cryogenically treated solar panels from special crystal, that work at 432Hz, are wired entirely with pure OFC copper (in the right direction, obviously) and are entirely analogue. Then they will be entirely acceptable. Of course they have to be fitted by an audiophile specialist trained in leaving an earth loop so you can keep your audiophile grounding box and regenerator.

Did I leave anything out? Of course I did, the excessive price!

 

[raif71]

Poor, poor Dr Grant

 

[BR52]

We have to go to 16 2/3 Hz like some railroads give more feelings than hearing’s

 

[SIY]

This (and similar ones) is a nice anecdotal story. Why don’t you rather post a measurement (properly scaled, or in dBV) of noise spectrum at the power amplifier output of your completely connected audio system, in the configuration as you listen to it?

Because my system isn’t in an anechoic chamber. Room noise will overwhelm any such measurement.

Edit: if you mean the electrical noise from the power amp, that spectrum was in my published review.

 

[Galliardist]

Because my system isn’t in an anechoic chamber. Room noise will overwhelm any such measurement.

Edit: if you mean the electrical noise from the power amp, that spectrum was in my published review.

I'd add that the thread is about audible hum. If there is no audible hum, that is sufficient for this thread, is it not?

It's not like we are concerned with difficult to discern artifacts in musical reproduction here.

 

[wwenze]

I'm not even sure what hum OP is talking about... since it is "audible if you press your ear to tweeter" yet we know 50Hz is way below filter frequency

Perhaps he is talking about noise? Which with bad amplifiers, yes. Anything decently designed tho, even if it is cheap, nah.

 

[fpitas]

I'm not even sure what hum OP is talking about... since it is "audible if you press your ear to tweeter" yet we know 50Hz is way below filter frequency

Perhaps he is talking about noise? Which with bad amplifiers, yes. Anything decently designed tho, even if it is cheap, nah.

The whole thread is kind of pointless, since the OP dropped one on us and disappeared. I guess he has bass tweeters (?)

 

[wwenze]

Bass tweeters sound kind of a nice concept. Is the Devialet using bass tweeters?

 

[Thorsten Loesch]

I'd like to bring to all the audiophiles attention this problem. No matter how expensive and carefully set up your system is, you know the hum is always there given enough volume and no source active.

Is that present with the "open input" shorted? It should not be.

If not shorting out the input, this is not a valid experiment.

Let's rebel and force electiricity companies or electronics companies or whoever is causing this to stop it.

It is caused by people who leave inputs unterminated and then turn up the volume very high (way higher than normal listening). I agree, they should be rebelled against.

Thor

 

[Daverz]

I've never kept any gear with audible hum. I bought a used Rogue tube pre-amp that had audible hum I couldn't get rid of. I brought it back to the dealer. I demoed a Griffin (?) pre-amp that had a hum I could not get rid of and did not keep it. Both of these had single-ended outputs only.

I currently only have one hum "issue": when I turn off my Motu M4, the SVS SB-1000 Pro subwoofer, which only has RCA connections, hums quite annoyingly. However that's easy to live with, I just turn the subwoofer off when I have to turn the Motu off. I use the Motu's balanced output for my Bryston amp.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Om. Om. Om. No sorry, I mean Hum. Hum. Hummmmmmm.

 

[Piere]

LOL, your bill is gonna be much lower now!

I don't think so. Processing hum waste in a safe way is a costly affair.

Hum related spurs of my amplifier is below the noise floor of my measurement equipment, that is below -150dB. So no manufacturer to blame!

B.t.w. Have the same problem here that is caused by the electricity company by their local neighborhood transformer. It is located about 20m from our house in a concrete box. Close by you don't here anything, even by night. But is spreads its audible hum through the soil to the houses around. The electricity company knows about but doesn't do anything about it.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

I don't think so. Processing hum waste in a safe way is a costly affair.

Hum related spurs of my amplifier is below the noise floor of my measurement equipment, that is below -150dB. So no manufacturer to blame!

B.t.w. Have the same problem here that is caused by the electricity company by their local neighborhood transformer. It is located about 20m from our house in a concrete box. Close by you don't hear anything, even by night. But is spreads its audible hum through the soil to the houses around. The electricity company knows about but doesn't do anything about it.

The OP was talking about hum in the electrical signal and being audible at the speaker.

What you describe is the “mechanical” hum from transformers wether from the electrical company or from the transformers in your electric devices. The hum in electrical signal is very much inaudible for SOTA devices. The mechanical hum not necessarily.

 

[ahofer]

It's not like we are concerned with difficult to discern artifacts in musical reproduction here.

Some might argue the SINAD ranking is exactly that. But many of those critics are concerned about both inaudible and immeasurable artifacts!

 

[Piere]

The OP was talking about hum in the electrical signal and being audible at the speaker.

What you describe is the “mechanical” hum from transformers wether from the electrical company or from the transformers in your electric devices. The hum in electrical signal is very much inaudible for SOTA devices. The mechanical hum not necessarily.

I know, but it is as boring as well............ Well designed audio gear, and for sure modern gear, shouldn'd show up the slightest amount of mains related noise of whatever kind.

 

[fpitas]

Some might argue the SINAD ranking is exactly that. But many of those critics are concerned about both inaudible and immeasurable artifacts!

Not to mention, the X Factor: the great unknown, and unknowable, except to internet trolls.

 

[gnarly]

Single-ended gear....ground loops. That simple, in my experience.
Normally not a problem, but can be quite pesky when they occur.

Like folks have said, balanced works....
I never get humm, even from rat's nest wiring like this...

 

[Galliardist]

Some might argue the SINAD ranking is exactly that. But many of those critics are concerned about both inaudible and immeasurable artifacts!

My comment was to this thread.
We may well have to be concerned about artefacts that are inaudible, that are not so easily audible, or do not show up in standard measurements (that is different from immeasurable of course).

Such things are brought up on ASR, and rightly so.

But a relatively simple point about audible hum should just be treated as that. How many zombie threads where the initial point was dealt with on page one, do we need?

 

[sarumbear]

I'd like to bring to all the audiophiles attention this problem. No matter how expensive and carefully set up your system is, you know the hum is always there given enough volume and no source active.

Not for me on either of my systems.

 

[Mean & Green]

What hum?

Equipment on with no music playing, amplifier up to full volume and ear to the speakers - Nothing at all to be heard…