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DavidS827

Audioholic Intern
Hi everyone, I just found this site and love it. I'm building a media room (medium budget) in my basement now and have been able to get a lot of useful in here.

Ok, now to my problem. On my current system, I have noticed that it starts to buzz when the weather gets colder. Last year, I noticed that my system started to buzz around November and lasted through April or so and now it's doing it again. Could the cold/dry weather cause this?

Thanks,

Dave
 
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Lincoln

Audioholic
Is the buxx thru the speaker like a ground loop or is it coming from the equipment itself like power supply noise???
 
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sjdgpt

Senior Audioholic
A season change?

Hmmmmmm

Sounds like you will chasing an "electrical ghost".

What has changed, besides the weather? Actually something has most likely changed, because of the weather. Is the noise intermittent and occurs only when an electrical appliance, such as a space heater, or electrical heater, is operating?
 
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DavidS827

Audioholic Intern
The noise is coming through my speakers. We don't run anything differently in our house other than turning the HVAC system from A/C to Heat. I have noticed that the air in our house does seem to be a lot drier now. Do you think the humidity in the house could have something to do with it?
 
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sjdgpt

Senior Audioholic
Power supply noise.

Assuming the equipment itself is not defective, which is a pretty safe assumption as the buzz has come and gone before, the source of the noise is most likely within your household circuits.


Remember what I said about chasing an "electrical ghost".


When I was a kid, my moms vacuum cleaner and sewing machine would make a huge amount of static on my TV.

Same problem goint on here.


As you said, the only change you made was switching the HVAC from AC to Heat.

Making an assumption about your HVAC.... you have heat strips or another source of radiant heat within the HVAC. Those heat strips pull a relatively large amount of power and are prone to generating electrical noise that is transmitted to sensitive electronics that share the same household circuits.


The easy way to solve the problem is with a decent quality power strip with built in noise suppression & surge protection. Monster Cable, please their expensive hearts, is a decent product and available at Circuit City, Best Buy, Tweeter etc. Similar products are available from Belken (sp?) and other companies and are available through Office Depot, Sears, Lowes etc.

By the way, Belken is pretty good stuff. I have it on all of my computers.


There are more expensive ways to solve the problem, including, gasp, replacing the heat strips with newer, less noisy designs, as well as installing noise suppression on the power/ground wires of the heat strips.

Add a $30 to $50 power strip and lets see if it solves your problem.

If you already have a power strip (surge protector) and it is inadaquate for your noise isolation needs, it is most likely because it doesnt have any noise suppression in the model. Many of the lowest priced units have zero noise protection.

Don't buy the most expensive model on the market, as most of the entry level units will quickly solve this type of problem.
 
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DavidS827

Audioholic Intern
Thanks for your help. I'll give it a try...keep your fingers crossed.
 
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