Got the Hypex amps working.......The Hummm is really bad ... (BD-Design)
by Kevin 
, Minneapolis, Thursday, November 07, 2013, 15:42 (3822 days ago)
edited by Bert, Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 16:31
After a day or so of making cables, I got to test out the Hypex amps this morning. They sound good enough, except for the hummmm coming out of the speakers. It's not noticeable during most music, except for the quiet passages.
There is no hum with my 45 amp (1.8 watts per channel) which I am using as input to the hypex. I can turn on my 45 amp and it is dead quiet at idle with no music playing at all. As soon as I power up the Hypex and the preset 1 light turns green a Hum kicks in, which is not tolerable for me. I tried lifting the ground of the hypex momentarily, to see if I had introduced a ground loop, but the hmmmmm remained.
I have very little hum running the Marchand Crossover with my 2a3 Tube amps on the bass bin. They sound quite nice.
I've chased hum before in stereo systems before and it's not easy to get rid of. It's not looking too good right now for the hypex amps. Some people I know can live with Hummm, I am not one of them. I listen to female vocals and Jazz Trios that often have quiet passages. Having hummmm instead of a 'black' background is a no go for me. I am running the hypex amps bridged.
Got the Hypex amps working.......The Hummm is really bad ...
by Gasper , Thursday, November 07, 2013, 17:25 (3822 days ago) @ Kevin
Got the Hypex amps working.......The Hummm is really bad ...
by Kevin , Minneapolis, Thursday, November 07, 2013, 18:22 (3822 days ago) @ Gasper
edited by Kevin, Thursday, November 07, 2013, 19:21
What kind of amplifier do you use? It may be a better match for the Hypex.
I did swap out my 45 SET amplifier with another little class 'T' amplifier that I have and the hmmm went away. SET amplifiers are known to be a bit noisy, but hooking up another device with a lot of gain, is exacerbating the problem. It may just not be a good match for SET amplifiers. I have 3 pairs of SET Monoblocks. 45, 2a3 and 300b and they all have the same issue.
The Hypex just may not work for me.
Got the Hypex amps working.......The Hummm is really bad ...
by Gasper , Thursday, November 07, 2013, 19:24 (3822 days ago) @ Kevin
Goldenote S3 signature...
Got the Hypex amps working.......The Hummm is really bad ...
by Bert , Thursday, November 07, 2013, 21:04 (3822 days ago) @ Kevin
Kevin,
I did swap out my 45 SET amplifier with another little class 'T' amplifier that I have and the hmmm went away. SET amplifiers are known to be a bit noisy, but hooking up another device with a lot of gain, is exacerbating the problem.
Perhaps the volume of the Hypex (gain + music) is much too high? Did you play a track? Adjusting the volume down will reduce the noise...
Perhaps you then still have too much noise but then you'll know how much of a problem it really is. ;-)
I do not use tubes anymore but have clients who do and the hum is not always a problem but mostly it will never be 100% silent...
Bert
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