Speaker tests on hold because of loud buzzing from receiver

ensitmike

ensitmike

Audioholic Intern
I recently posted about speakers choices. I picked up my receiver today and hooked it up to my first set of speakers and was met by a loud buzz from the speakers.

Receiver came in the original box and looks almost brand new aside from HDMI input scratches on the back. Yamaha HTR-5990
Not plugged into anything but the speakers. Volume does not change the buzz. Everything is wired correctly. Switching inputs doesn't get rid of the sound but there is a very very slight frequency shift. I looked through the top vents and the two very large capacitors don't seem to be swollen or anything.

Here is an image from a free app of the room frequencies:

Here is a video with audio of the buzz. It is much louder in person. I turn it on and off. It is not the main deep buzz, but the higher frequency.


Anyone have any idea what is wrong?

Also, I don't believe it is a ground loop buzz. It seems to be higher frequency. Almost like the sound you hear at a concert when they plug in a guitar. Hard to explain.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Doesn't sound like a ground loop, too high. I would check the speakers with another source just to be sure, but I think that receiver is the problem.
 
ensitmike

ensitmike

Audioholic Intern
Doesn't sound like a ground loop, too high. I would check the speakers with another source just to be sure, but I think that receiver is the problem.
Was able to test the speakers. They seem fine. Definitely the receiver.

After some research his seem to be a common problem with receivers/amps and it is usually the two main caps. The frequency is double the input (USA = 60hz so this is about 120hz) Ended up taking the body off and I am stumped because the main capacitors look great.

Audio newbie but have a tiny bit of electronics experience. I am considering going to a shop just to test the caps to see if they are shot.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Was able to test the speakers. They seem fine. Definitely the receiver.

After some research his seem to be a common problem with receivers/amps and it is usually the two main caps. The frequency is double the input (USA = 60hz so this is about 120hz) Ended up taking the body off and I am stumped because the main capacitors look great.

Audio newbie but have a tiny bit of electronics experience. I am considering going to a shop just to test the caps to see if they are shot.
Great if you have repair chops/know what you're doing. Wouldn't be an option for me. Isn't always caps either. I think mostly the whole caps thing is overstated.
 
ensitmike

ensitmike

Audioholic Intern
Great if you have repair chops/know what you're doing. Wouldn't be an option for me. Isn't always caps either. I think mostly the whole caps thing is overstated.
Yea. Doesn't help that they look perfect. That said, this is a hot receiver and they are a bit old.

Here is a much better video/audio for reference
New Reference Video

Here is a guy who gave the information I told you. I know its just an amp but it sounds almost identical. I'm going to test for the intermodulation he mentions tomorrow. Might not work on a receiver but worth a shot to pinpoint the problem.
 
Last edited:
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Not much of an amateur video fan, most seem to be from doofuses in audio particularly (let alone analyzing based on such). It is a relatively cheap avr from 14 years ago otoh....
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
That is a 15 year old receiver. That is really well passed the useful life of a unit like that.

They have a reputation for running hot. The noise certainly could be from failed power supply caps. Just because they look OK does not mean they are. Mos caps fail and look brand new.

You will need exact replacements in terms of capacity and voltage and physical size if you are going to replace them. Mouser electronics is probably your best source for replacement caps.

This will be a shot in the dark repair. There are other issues that could make this noise, especially a failed power supply diode.

Advice for the future would be to avoid a receiver that old. With high quality power amps, there are many that would perform at that age.

Receivers are not known to, and not intended to, make old bones.

Who did you buy it from? I suspect this was an eBay purchase. If it was go after the seller if he did not disclose this. It could be shipping damage however. All this sort of thing can take is a small crack in a printed circuit board.

I would not put a lot of effort or money into a receiver that old. It is certainly not worth the cost of professional repair.
 
ensitmike

ensitmike

Audioholic Intern
That is a 15 year old receiver. That is really well passed the useful life of a unit like that.

They have a reputation for running hot. The noise certainly could be from failed power supply caps. Just because they look OK does not mean they are. Mos caps fail and look brand new.

You will need exact replacements in terms of capacity and voltage and physical size if you are going to replace them. Mouser electronics is probably your best source for replacement caps.

This will be a shot in the dark repair. There are other issues that could make this noise, especially a failed power supply diode.

Advice for the future would be to avoid a receiver that old. With high quality power amps, there are many that would perform at that age.

Receivers are not known to, and not intended to, make old bones.

Who did you buy it from? I suspect this was an eBay purchase. If it was go after the seller if he did not disclose this. It could be shipping damage however. All this sort of thing can take is a small crack in a printed circuit board.

I would not put a lot of effort or money into a receiver that old. It is certainly not worth the cost of professional repair.
Thank you for the great response. Was hoping to hear something a little more detailed like this.

The seller was on eBay but luckily it is a non-profit that is really good with returns. I was planning on asking them if they mind if I try fixing the unit before returning it because it will end up in the trash. If they agreed I was just going to desolder the caps and run them to a local spot that can check the capacitance.

Maybe I should have gotten advice before buying. If this doesn't end up working out, do you have any suggestions on a route I should take? I have no interest in home theater and this would be just for stereo music. Granted, this is my first setup and the $60 price of this receiver was appealing... so budget minded to see how much I like the hobby would be a consideration.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Thank you for the great response. Was hoping to hear something a little more detailed like this.

The seller was on eBay but luckily it is a non-profit that is really good with returns. I was planning on asking them if they mind if I try fixing the unit before returning it because it will end up in the trash. If they agreed I was just going to desolder the caps and run them to a local spot that can check the capacitance.

Maybe I should have gotten advice before buying. If this doesn't end up working out, do you have any suggestions on a route I should take? I have no interest in home theater and this would be just for stereo music. Granted, this is my first setup and the $60 price of this receiver was appealing... so budget minded to see how much I like the hobby would be a consideration.
In general nothing wrong with an avr, but for just 2ch there's plenty of units that can handle such even on the used market. Craigslist so you can get a demo before completing the deal might be a thought. What kind of sources are you lining up to use it with?
 
ensitmike

ensitmike

Audioholic Intern
In general nothing wrong with an avr, but for just 2ch there's plenty of units that can handle such even on the used market. Craigslist so you can get a demo before completing the deal might be a thought. What kind of sources are you lining up to use it with?
Do I understand this right? 2 channel would be labeled 2.1 much like others are labeled 5.1 or 7.1? So less overall power and more focused power to stereo only? If so, that is exactly what I need. So you suggest 2 channel but just not such an old unit, correct?

As for sources. The first will be bluetooth so I can listen to anything from the start. After that will come a record player. I am really into classic rock up into the 90's, heavy and metal, jazz, classical, blues, electronic, folk, and country. That said, once I heard the crispy highs and full bass I've begun enjoying genres that never appealed to me just for the sound. Once I get grounded I wouldn't mind a streaming service or a great digitized library, but I know NOTHING about that and don't want to get ahead of myself. I just hear people talking about "Title" and so forth on youtube.

The stage I'm at right now is I heard someones hifi setup and was floored. I had never heard anything like that before and it made me fall in love with music again. I ran out and started grabbing some essentials to see where it takes me.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Well, 2ch gear is generally just termed that or 2.0 (there is no source of music in the format 2.1). Some 2ch units have bass management so you can integrate a sub for 2.1 speaker setup, tho (and some merely have an unfiltered sub out and no high pass for the speakers or delay management so varies as to how useful). A 2ch unit may be quite powerful, or not, depends on the unit. The advantage an avr may have over a 2ch unit in 2ch mode is often a larger power supply, and even more power only into 2ch than many dedicated 2ch units, but, as always, depends on specifics. Depends on your goals for the speaker system in the long run....like using both pair of speakers you have and adding a sub and center for a surround system, where a 2ch receiver or integrated amp will not help out.

I wouldn't bother with vinyl unless you have an existing collection myself (and I do have an existing collection and a turntable still, but haven't bought new vinyl in over 20 years). Kind of an expensive way to go right now in any case for what I do not find to be a superior delivery in general (some records can be nice, or if you are interested in a genre not represented by digital maybe). I have a larger collection of CDs that I've ripped to flac and play as such in a variety of ways (streaming on my own network to various gear, on thumb drives also), but a universal optical disc player is nice, especially if you might add video to the system. I use both Spotify and Pandora for streaming, mostly to find/confirm music to buy or even for casual listening. There's a wide variety of streaming available now, either lossy or lossless depending how much you want to spend but generally an excellent deal (for you more than the artist, tho).

Might want to run potential purchases by us before buying....
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Thank you for the great response. Was hoping to hear something a little more detailed like this.

The seller was on eBay but luckily it is a non-profit that is really good with returns. I was planning on asking them if they mind if I try fixing the unit before returning it because it will end up in the trash. If they agreed I was just going to desolder the caps and run them to a local spot that can check the capacitance.

Maybe I should have gotten advice before buying. If this doesn't end up working out, do you have any suggestions on a route I should take? I have no interest in home theater and this would be just for stereo music. Granted, this is my first setup and the $60 price of this receiver was appealing... so budget minded to see how much I like the hobby would be a consideration.
That is a reasonable plan. You will gain some experience. I don't know your soldering skills, but you need to be neat and accurate. There are high voltages in power supplies.

Use your multimeter to make sure all solder joints are good, and that no solder has strayed where it should not have.

As far as replacements I would need to know your speakers and if you will use a sub. It seems from a post above that you likely need HDMI connectivity or at least the ability to handle digital sources. If so, that puts good older units out of the running. If you want a good two channel system and are prepared to use an external DAC and no HDMI then there are a lot of really good older units around. However that requirement does require speakers that perform well down to at least the 40 Hz range. If that is the case a sub is easily dispensed with.
 
ensitmike

ensitmike

Audioholic Intern
That is a reasonable plan. You will gain some experience. I don't know your soldering skills, but you need to be neat and accurate. There are high voltages in power supplies.

Use your multimeter to make sure all solder joints are good, and that no solder has strayed where it should not have.

As far as replacements I would need to know your speakers and if you will use a sub. It seems from a post above that you likely need HDMI connectivity or at least the ability to handle digital sources. If so, that puts good older units out of the running. If you want a good two channel system and are prepared to use an external DAC and no HDMI then there are a lot of really good older units around. However that requirement does require speakers that perform well down to at least the 40 Hz range. If that is the case a sub is easily dispensed with.
I just took a look at your "My System" link.... o_O Impressive stuff and made me laugh at my setup, haha.

The good news is I know my speakers because I already bought them. Just haven't chosen which ones to use. I have Klipsch RB-5 ii and JBL e60's. I was able to test them this morning with a friends amp. The Klipsch seem to have amazing clarity and detail. Gave me that "I can hear everything" feeling. Leaning towards those but I'm not sure. I plan on using a Klipsch KSW-10 with whichever speakers I choose though. Luckily it can be wired in parallel with speakers if I end up with an amp that doesn't have a subwoofer out.

Question about the older units though. Will I still have a problem with caps and so forth. Those vintage 2 channels are even older than the one I have now. They also seem to be rated at lower watts than what my speakers are rated at. Would that be a problem?

I also don't necessarily need HDMI. As long as I can setup an RCA bluetooth and possibly a record player I will be set for at least my entry phase. Once I graduate college I can dig in more.
 
Last edited:
ensitmike

ensitmike

Audioholic Intern
Well, 2ch gear is generally just termed that or 2.0 (there is no source of music in the format 2.1). Some 2ch units have bass management so you can integrate a sub for 2.1 speaker setup, tho (and some merely have an unfiltered sub out and no high pass for the speakers or delay management so varies as to how useful). A 2ch unit may be quite powerful, or not, depends on the unit. The advantage an avr may have over a 2ch unit in 2ch mode is often a larger power supply, and even more power only into 2ch than many dedicated 2ch units, but, as always, depends on specifics. Depends on your goals for the speaker system in the long run....like using both pair of speakers you have and adding a sub and center for a surround system, where a 2ch receiver or integrated amp will not help out.

I wouldn't bother with vinyl unless you have an existing collection myself (and I do have an existing collection and a turntable still, but haven't bought new vinyl in over 20 years). Kind of an expensive way to go right now in any case for what I do not find to be a superior delivery in general (some records can be nice, or if you are interested in a genre not represented by digital maybe). I have a larger collection of CDs that I've ripped to flac and play as such in a variety of ways (streaming on my own network to various gear, on thumb drives also), but a universal optical disc player is nice, especially if you might add video to the system. I use both Spotify and Pandora for streaming, mostly to find/confirm music to buy or even for casual listening. There's a wide variety of streaming available now, either lossy or lossless depending how much you want to spend but generally an excellent deal (for you more than the artist, tho).

Might want to run potential purchases by us before buying....
Hey thanks for the info! I looked online and a lot of the 2 channel modern receivers look very cheap. The vintage stuff looks awesome but I am nervous about those having problems because they are even older than the one I just had fail. Definitely don't see myself using this setup for surround. Wont even have a TV in the room I have this gear in. I can also wire my sub up parallel to the L/R speakers or I can use a mono sub out even without high pass because the speaker has a high-pass dial on the back. So I'm not too worried. I just want something powerful enough to drive my speakers and reliable. Cheap is nice too, which is why I bought this one. $60.

I actually inherited a lot of vinyl. Would like to be able to listen to it for sentimental reasons. That said, I love Spotify and it will probably be my main source for a while.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Hey thanks for the info! I looked online and a lot of the 2 channel modern receivers look very cheap. The vintage stuff looks awesome but I am nervous about those having problems because they are even older than the one I just had fail. Definitely don't see myself using this setup for surround. Wont even have a TV in the room I have this gear in. I can also wire my sub up parallel to the L/R speakers or I can use a mono sub out even without high pass because the speaker has a high-pass dial on the back. So I'm not too worried. I just want something powerful enough to drive my speakers and reliable. Cheap is nice too, which is why I bought this one. $60.

I actually inherited a lot of vinyl. Would like to be able to listen to it for sentimental reasons. That said, I love Spotify and it will probably be my main source for a while.
A speaker with a high pass filter is pretty odd....what is it?
 
ensitmike

ensitmike

Audioholic Intern
A speaker with a high pass filter is pretty odd....what is it?
Whoops. The sub is a KSW 10 and has a low pass fitler. My newbie knowledge haha. I thought high pass filtered out higher frequencies, but I guess that is low pass? Basically I can turn the knob and cut off higher frequencies so the sub doesn't drone but makes it fill in only the lower frequencies. That is what I understand from tinkering with it at least.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Whoops. The sub is a KSW 10 and has a low pass fitler. My newbie knowledge haha. I thought high pass filtered out higher frequencies, but I guess that is low pass? Basically I can turn the knob and cut off higher frequencies so the sub doesn't drone but makes it fill in only the lower frequencies. That is what I understand from tinkering with it at least.
Yes the term is a little deceiving but just think about what it allows (or passes). Many subs confuse the issue by calling a low pass filter a "crossover" which it isn't. There are some subs also with high pass filters, sometimes for high level (speaker level) connections, some on rca connections. While subs are speakers, thought you meant your non-sub speakers having a high pass filter thus my question.
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top