

Try to set your dimmers off or at full to troubleshoot if they are making the problem.ĪC cables carry 60 cycle electricity which also creates an electrical field outside of the wire. Try moving these things away, or turning them off completely.įinally, certain dimmer switches will modify the AC signal and can affect audio components nearby on the same circuit.
Vintage radio sound board tv#
If this is the cause, the hum will reduce.Īs well, transformers with large electrical fields such as in fluorescent lights or old style TV tubes will also create the same kind of electrical interference and hum. You can test to see if this is the cause of your hum by physically moving the component farther away from the nearest components. The field from one transformer can transfer to the other transformer's coil of wire by electro-magnetic induction. The most common form of interference is when two components' transformers are too close to one another. Transformers are large hunks of metal wrapped in coils of wire, and depending on how they're made and how they're shielded, they can produce interference. Interference from another component or nearby electrical transformerĪlmost all electronics utilize a transformer which transforms the 120 volt AC power in the wall to lower voltage DC power in the device. If it doesn't, it is likely related to where the component is situated in relation to other components.Ģ. If it does, it is likely a fault in the component. Try hooking the component up to a different system in another room and see if the problem persists. The next step is to test to see if the fault is inside the component or whether it is a result of the connection or proximity of the component to the system. If it does, you've isolated the problem to that component. If so, remove this component and see if the hum goes away. Did you add a new component or cable? Perhaps a new cartridge, tube or even a power conditioner.

The first thing to consider when a hum suddenly occurs in your system is if anything changed.

Interference from AC lines crossing signal cables Interference from another component or nearby electrical transformer.ģ. Where does this incessant humming come from and how can we fix it?Ģ. A hum may also have higher pitched harmonics at multiples of 60Hz, (120Hz, 180Hz etc.) which will sound more like a buzz. This is because hum is generally based on our ubiquitous AC power which alternates up and down at 60 cycles (Hz) per second. Let's look at hums first:Ī hum almost always sounds like a 60Hz drone, which is similar in frequency to a large idling truck. One of the most annoying things in audio is when you hook up a new component and and there is a hum, noise or radio interference.
