Slight hum in old school odyssey stratos

corwin99 · « **on:** 12 Nov 2004, 05:42 pm »

Hi, i just bought a second hand Odyssey Stratos yesterday and plugged it in.. i really love the sound of it... its an amazing amp. But, there is one problem i have with it, not a big one, but i am wondering if this is just part of the amp or if there is something wrong with it or somethign wrong with my system? When i plugged it in there is a bit of a hum coming from the speakers.. it gets louder with the volume.. its the same type of hum i get from using some other amps.. some have more some have less some have none.. does the Stratos have this hum because of its design or is it not supposed to be there? I dont think its a grounding problem but it could be.. i dunno much about this stuff.

BillyM · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 Nov 2004, 06:12 pm »

Is it or any of the source cables between your source and your amp in close proximity to another electrical component? I had my parasound 2ft behind my computer monitor at one point and was getting a fairly audible hum. Once my long digital cable came in, the amp was moved to the floor between the speakers and *poof* no more hum. Same outlet, same power cord, just a better shielded source cable and further from the computer monitor.

Your best bet would be to move it around, try another socket, get all that out of the way before you start to question the amplifier itself.

Good Luck,
--BillyM

corwin99 · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 Nov 2004, 06:42 pm »

Well the amp is on the bottom rack of my audio rack... the Tuner is above it, but its usually turned off, and then there is my CD player, then my DAC then my Preamp on the top. so all the cables in the back are fairly close to each other... i will try moving them around and stuff when i get home.. thanks!

The main reason i ask is because i have had amps in this same set up with no hum and some with more hum... This Odyssey is going to be a keeper so i was hoping to see if the amp is inherently hummy.

amartincool · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 Nov 2004, 06:50 pm »

odyssey is quiet, is abnormal that hum.

I own Khartago, stratos plus and mono xtrme, etesian and tempest and no combination makes hum .

In fact, I decided tempest because the tube preamplifier was a little hummy, and tempest was silent comapred to.

hope this helps

corwin99 · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 Nov 2004, 07:49 pm »

Thanks.. i will definately start swapping the components around also and see if i can isolate and remove the hum. Thanks!

Digi-G · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 Nov 2004, 08:03 pm »

I also had a hum problem with my Stratos. I tried all kinds of fixes. Lots of cable swaps. Unplugging all of my components (IC's and electric). I even put in a dedicated power line. I still had hum with only the stratos and speakers in the chain - not even a source. I settled on using a 2-pronged 'cheater' plug. I'm sure this isn't optimum (for safety issues?) but I ran it past Klaus, and the amplifier is VERY quiet now.

klaus@odyssey · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 Nov 2004, 07:21 am »

Cal me, 317 299 5578, anytime, the later the better/

Klaus

corwin99 · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 Nov 2004, 10:50 pm »

Klaus,
Thanks for the number and stuff, but i figured it out.. At first I thought it was the grounding prong on my power plug as well, as no moving around of cables changed anything, but turns out it was because I had the Amp plugged into the same side of the Power Conditioner. One side of the power Conditioner says Audio and one is Video, and i had the preamp and the amp both plugged into the audio side. Apparently it did not like this.. so The Preamp is not on the Video side and the hum is gone! The power conditioner is a Monster Power HTS1000MKII.

rosconey · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 Nov 2004, 11:32 pm »

give it a listen without the power conditioner -plugged directly into the wall

corwin99 · « **Reply #9 on:** 17 Nov 2004, 12:31 am »

I've been following the thread about not using power conditioners and plan to do that soon. I had a problem with lots of voltage drops and noise from appliances (mixer would always cause insane amounts of speaker crackle whenever the gf was making cookies)... but the power company seems to have fixed that after I made a call, so perhaps now would be a good time.

rosconey · « **Reply #10 on:** 17 Nov 2004, 12:46 am »

next time you make cookies better make enough for everyone

corwin99 · « **Reply #11 on:** 17 Nov 2004, 04:51 pm »

Hey if any of you guys are near Nanaimo, Canada, you're welcome to come over for cookies and music