Interference crackling from Powerline Adaptors

I take it that it’s low level hum that can be heard at the speakers rather than noise emanating from the power amp transformer ?

A description of the rest of the system including all sources would be helpful.

Good question.
The 50Hz hum is coming from the NAP150, with a very faint hiss out the speakers.
10x better than yesterday.
Maybe I’m being picky now, but have no previous experience of Naim so cannot compare.
Should I expect perfection?

My system consists of
NAC112, NAP150, CD5, KEF LS50, Naim speaker cable, Naim interconnects
Two 240v power sockets now connected each to a TP-Link powerline adapter (thanks @anon4216120)

Ah ok - Quite normal and nothing to be too concerned about. Naim power amps and power supplies will hum slightly, some worse than others. If you do a forum search on transformer hum, you’ll find plenty of examples.

I used the TP Link things and they were awful.
Introduced loads of noise into the system and made the vinyl replay sound like I had an earthing issue.

My guess is that neither the hum coming directly from the amp (which Naim transformers CAN produce) nor the faint hiss from the speakers (if it really is white noise hiss) is due to the use of powerline adaptors. There are some YouTube videos that illustrate the noise; it sounds to me like a taser (not that I’ve ever been tased). Rapid-fire “clicks.” There are videos where that sound comes out of the hi fi speakers, or out of a radio tuned to a shortwave band.

Well not really, you would need a faraday cage as well, the whole point is that interference travels via near field radio (RFI) Eminating from your domestic mains cabling as well as along the mains cable.

If you had a separate outbuilding etc, then yes you could filter the mains, and I would expect over 20 metres or so the field strength would have decayed to be inconsequential apart for the most revealing of Hi-Fi equipment.

My other concern is PLAs don’t offer Ethernet connectivity, and with some applications and protocols that can cause less effective operation, they really are a kludge that has mostly become obsolete now.

They really are (both a kludge and obsolete), and I don’t know why anyone defends their use. There is a MUCH better solution that costs a very small percentage of what even one modest Naim black box costs.

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I’m using the Google mesh. We have 4 nodes. It’s been great.

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How good is the Google product in the Y-axis (from floor to floor)? Our home is 4 levels. The challenge is much more up/down, than horizontally, for our layout.

I almost bought those but at the time the Eero were on sale so I picked them up. HUGE upgrade over my previous Apple Airport Extreme. I think Apple missed out tbh. They should have bought Eero.

I’ve got to chime in. In my experience Naim is the only brand where hum from the units is acceptable to the owners. I can’t imagine a Levinson, Spectral, Solution, or Boulder owner accepting hum from their very expensive amp. That said my SN2 and now with newly added HiCap DR are dead quiet . I can turn the volume to 12:00 it’s quiet, no hiss hum nada. Maybe I’m lucky maybe it’s using really good power cords and a really good power line filter, maybe it’s my power out here in the Burb’s. But I can’t accept that Naim amps hum, could it be cables or DC ? I think I’d go nuts if my system had hum and noise issues I couldn’t fix.

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I’d call that the Z-axis. But in our house it works across 3 levels with base on a top level, a node on the middle level, and nothing on the lower level. The actual alignment is about 45 degrees.

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Yah - you’re right! In my stay-at-home boredom I think I’ll buy the Google Mesh stuff. Wifi is slow in my wife’s office, and she’s in that room a lot right now.

Any ideas on the differences between “Google Mesh” and “Google Nest Mesh?” The Nest remote nodes appear to include a ‘smart speaker’ and she would throw me out the 2nd floor window if I put one of those in her office!! (I dont want them either, although I’m sure you can turn them off.)

We don’t have the Nest Version. I think the Nest version may incorporate the integration of things like the Nest AI thermostats and Google Home voice control function. We have a Google Home thing on our network but it is physically a separate speaker and microphone.

A while back on here, it was stated that a brand new, significantly improved WiFi protocol was about to be released. The gist of it was that Mesh-type systems, although OK, were really just a work-around for the deficiencies of the current protocol, and that new protocol would make them unnecessary. But from what I understood, the new protocol would be forwards/backwards compatible, so existing systems (including Mesh-type systems) would still work just fine.

Or you could wait and just use Elon’s Mesh…

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I love the idea of this tech, but the satellites are destroying the night sky. Astronomers/photographers have to use software now to eliminate them from their photos. So def mixed feelings about this tech.

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I share your concerns.

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I’m not convinced that a service based on satellites is ever going to offer acceptable capacity, latency or in-building penetration.

It would be useful for fill-in for low-population density areas but for urban centres I think we’re stuck with ground based comms of one sort or another.

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Bart, my thoughts exactly when I read it… destroying the night sky, filling the orbit around earth with more and more junk, and adding to green house gases… rockets are hardly environmentally friendly…
I’d be more enthused about high altitude solar gliders or steerable high altitude balloons/air ships overs the areas of the world that really need this sort of technology, such as much of central Africa.

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I’d agree - personally i don’t think Mega constellations are the answer to this - issues around the sheer numbers (and failure rate), mean that more legislation will kick in to limit these. On the other hand, there is a greater demand now for debris removal missions…

HAPS is a good solution though - high persistence rate and with recent developments, better payload capability (power and mass) over earlier vehicles makes this a good solution for broadband applications rather than from LEO satellite constellations. Just IMHO !