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speaker cable static sound

Can anyone help with a technical question:

I am using audience au24 speaker cables ( I believe they are unshielded) and there is a tv nearby. The problem is that even when the tv is not on or even plugged in I sometimes get a mild static sound coming out of one of the speakers. The weird thing is that its only out of the right speaker even though the tv is equidistant to both speakers. The other weird thing is that the static sound does not immediately happen when I turn on the amp but comes after a few minutes and will often just go away and then come back and then go away.

I have tried lifting the cables off the ground and moving around the monster ac outlet strip. No, none of the audio equipment goes into the ac outlet strip nor do they even share the same wall outlet.

I like the speaker cables but maybe I should get a shielded cable? Any recommendations. I currently used purist interconnect dominus between amp and preamp and use the emmlabs dcc2 as preamp and dac with their cd transport. My speakers are Wilson Watt Puppy 7's.

Thanks

Michael
128x128karmapolice
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,517 posts
 
I really don't think it's the speaker cables, although Lloyd Walker and others make RFI-killing doohickeys you can put across your speaker terminals. And Purist Audio's Dominus and Venustas (even Musaeus) have enough Ferox shielding to keep out any RFI, so you might want to audition a pair.

But I honestly think the problem is elsewhere. When this does occur, does it occur across several sources (or is the EMM stuff your only source)?
dopogue
1,767 posts
 
Have you swapped the speaker cables (left to right) to see if the noise moves? If it does, it may be the cables. If not, it's something else.
thorman
1,262 posts
 
Not sure if you have tubes or not but could be a leaky or bad tube . I would (as mentioned) try flipping your speaker wires. If that doesn't work ,remove your speaker wires and try some cheapo lamp cord and see if the noise continues.My guess is its not the speaker wire though....
metro04
222 posts
 
1) If you suspect the speaker cables, slightly raise the volume when the static occurs, and wiggle all the offending channel cable connections while listening for instant changes (both speaker and amp locations). Not much can happen to "standard" speaker cables except poor or deteriorating terminations.

2) As mentioned previously, swap cabling at the speakers only to negate any speaker-related issues. If still from the right speaker, investigate that speaker.

3) COMPLETELY swap the interconnect cabling between the preamp and amp. If the static moves, it's that "right" interconnect cable. If unchanged, swap ONLY the IC connections at the amp. If static moves to the left, it's NOT the amp.

4) Reconnect these IC's back to original configuration, and perform this exact same excersize with the "source" to preamp IC's, thus attempting to eliminate any preamp-related issues. Option: If your "source" has a volume control, bypass the "preamp" and connect it directly to the amp's input.

By now, you should have the "problem" item identified. None of your other listed remedies would confine itself to a single chnl of audio playback (including TV), nor shielding of speaker cables be required. Your scenario sounds like intermittent electronics.

You can e-mail me for futher assistance, and will be glad to help.


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