Subwoofer Hum Solutions with Tube Amps?

N

neddyboy

New Member
I've looked around a lot for a solution to this. I use a Counterpoint tube preamp, a Audio Research Dual 75 tube power amp, and an Outlaw solid state monoblock to drive a subwoofer. I have signal from the preamp going into a Rane active crossover that sums the two channels and filters out the highs. I love the setup, but the subwoofer has a low-frequency hum. Not much, but it's there. Mocking me.

All the solutions I've found tell me to isolate all the components EXCEPT ONE from ground. The problem is that all three components use grounded plugs. I'd be willing to experiment with losing the ground on the Outlaw amp and the Rane, but I obviously can't on the tube gear. I've tried grounding the subwoofer amp to the preamp, plugging everything into one power strip, and moving components around. Nothing has helped.

Any suggestions?
 
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I have, yeah. Not as a troubleshooting attempt, but I can tell you that my previous amp driving the sub had the same problem.
 
Three ground lifts, 1 on the outlaw, 1 on the Rane, and 1 on AR dual 75 for starters. Don't worry they will all be grounded through your cabling and your Pre. See what you get then.
 
I had a humming subwoofer recently. The fix was to swap out the CFL bulbs in the nearby lamp with standard incandescent bulbs.
 
Guitbanger, when you say "ground lift" are you talking about a cheater plug or something more complicated? I've only seen the term ground lift used on gear that have that option built in.
 
At work (shhhhh.....) so I can't access another site (because it has commerce on it), but if you go to www.audioholics.com and use their internal search tool to look for "ground loop" you may find some useful stuff.
 
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