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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
jlind325is
113 posts
 
Any chance you had a drier or dishwasher going when you heard the buzzing? or flourescent lights on? My background gets noisier when more things are on in the house, even with my UPC.
metro04
222 posts
 

Karmapolice,

Just to be clear, did you CROSS (not swap) the interconnect cables into the amp (left into the right chnl.)? If the static moves to the left speaker, it's not the amp or speaker cable location, thus pointing to either the preamp or source. Bypass the preamp if possible, as mentioned earlier.
karmapolice's avatar
karmapolice OP
141 posts
 
Hi,

I cannot bypass the preamp because my preamp is also my dac and the transport does not have volume control.

There is also no preamp to source cables that are left channel right channel. They only are digital cables that control the data and clock

I did just cross the ic cable not completely swap them. But again I had previously used the valhalla nordost cable and was experiencing the same problem.

The problem began when I switched speaker cables in January 2006 from Nordost Red Dawn to Audience Au24 speaker cables.
metro04
222 posts
 
Karmapolice,

Sorry if this responce comes through again, but didn't think it took.

Anyway, the IC cable crossing was to inject any right chnl static into the left amplification and speaker. If static continues from the right chnl, and you've exchanged the speaker cables as stated, the only remaining items are the amp's right chnl and speaker.

Switch the speaker cables at the amp, and if the static moves to the left speaker, it's your amp. If unchanged from the RIGHT speaker, there the problem lies.

If the static DOES move from the amp's IC cable crossing, it's your source/preamp.

Keep us posted...
ratsb0dd
41 posts
 
Red Dawn is not sheilded, as speaker cables should not be anyway. What happened when you took out the cables you suspect as being faulty and dropped in something different, like a zip cord or anything else, or did I miss that you actually tried that?

steve
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