Speaker hum problem - need help

Well, I wasn't able to get to RS today (did a nearly 4 hour bike ride in 85 degree heat.....kinda beat), but, I was able to do the extension cord test. Used a (probably) 14 gauge 25 foot Home Depot type extension cord. Tried it in two separate outlets: one across the living room from the outlets I've mentioned, one down the hall. NO CHANGE!

I then tried changing the inputs on the amp (not that I have anything plugged in aside from my XLR and speaker cables), and ran through them all, with each remote outlet (with extension cord attached), and then again with amp plugged into the power strip I've been using. NO CHANGE on any input.

You know.....despite what they said at the factory, I am beginning to wonder about this amp. But, the argument against that was the experience with the previous (tube) amp, with different speakers and cabling. Same hum, except variable based on volume of amp.

I tried one other experiment.....with the amp plugged into it's usual power strip, I tried some other speakers I have in the house....a set of Monitor Audio Silver 7's. Believe it or not.....still heard the same hum!!

I live in a semi-rural neighborhood in the SF Bay Area. There's low density housing and no industry locally. You'd think that would create for some pretty high quality electrical sources? Sounds like I need to buy that outlet checker.

I have contacted the salesperson from the shop at which I purchased the DAC....he said he'd be able to come by this week and try to sort out the situation.

Any other ideas aside from bringing my amp to another location (I could probably do that with the shop at which I bought the DAC)??

This situation is really perplexing and annoying....

Matt

Been doing a bit more reading elsewhere......would an "isolation transformer" help in this situation? Is it possible to install one immediately after the wall outlet (i.e., can I plug my power strip into the transformer)? Am I shooting from the hip?

Bad or going bad power supply cap? Would it not do exactly what we hear
here......

Quite a mystery. At this point I can think of only two possibilities, both of which seem very unlikely:

1)The electricians who wired the house when it was built messed up big time, perhaps leaving a safety ground run unconnected, or even reversing the hot and neutral runs, such that all of the outlets you've tried were affected.

2)Or (as Bill/Grannyring suggested) the amp has a bad filter capacitor or other issue, which Coda was negligent in not detecting when you sent it back to them.

Regarding your question about an isolation transformer, I see no reason to expect that to help.

Regards,
-- Al

"I then tried changing the inputs on the amp (not that I have anything plugged in aside from my XLR and speaker cables), and ran through them all, with each remote outlet (with extension cord attached), and then again with amp plugged into the power strip I've been using. NO CHANGE on any input."

Just to be clear, when you were swapping out components, did you leave the IC's plugged into the amp? Because if you left them in the amp but not connected to anything on the other end, that can produce a hum like you are describing. Especially if open ends happen to be touching something. Also, does the amp have a way to go back and forth between balanced and single ended operation? Having that on the wrong setting can also cause a hum if its not in the right mode. Last, if the amp allows you to adjust the level of each input individually, along with a global volume control, try reducing the level on the individual input.