Uniti Nova Buzz

When running tests, I am not connecting the turntable. Incidentally, it does not seem to make a difference whether the TT is connected or not.

Interesting. I had considered thisā€¦ but Iā€™m a little confused on the science behind it. I presume that the theory is that the speaker wire is acting as an RF antenna. But, why would the sound only appear in the speakers when the amp is on? With the amp on, I imagine that there is no signal to the speakers unless music is being played. So, the speaker cables are effectively in the same state as if the unit were powered off.

To get RF noise, I would think that a low signal stage would have to receive it and then have it amplified to the speaker leads. In this case, moving the speaker cables around wouldnā€™t make a difference.

Is my thinking correct here, or perhaps Iā€™m misunderstanding you?

Not being an electronics engineer, I donā€™t know the theory, sorry, just the experience of RF issues from the past.

I appreciate the help anyway. Iā€™ll play around with it regardless.

@Richard.Dane you seem to be on to something. I moved the unit to a couple of different rooms and, in doing so, found that the noise is related to the orientation of the speaker cable. If I move it around, I can certainly change the volume of the buzz.

So, the question is now. how to fix this. I suspect it has to do with a signal originating from outside the house. Do I need to look into shielded or braided cables? Or, could this issue be still related to some root grounding problem?

I find it strange that this never happened with other amplifiers Iā€™ve used, but maybe they didnā€™t have as good of filtering for this sort of situation? Or, maybe itā€™s because Iā€™m using thicker gauge speaker cables now?

The question is what speaker cables are you using and what length?

Also there is a Ton of info out there on RFI/ EMI noise try Googling Shielded Speaker cable.

Still wondering what cables youā€™re using

Hereā€™s a cheap idea Google : Copper Shield Braid. Tech Flex makes a 100% Copper braided flex, you could run your cables through it, kind of a Faraday Cage.

Itā€™s best to try to avoid using shielding, which invariably impacts performance negatively in some way, although i guess if it kills the noise, maybe thatā€™s a price worth paying.

I seem to recall something about the speaker cables being aerials feeding the noise back into the amp. The trick is to arrange the cabling so it minimises the pickup.

Many manufacturers slug their kit in different ways to make it impervious to such issues. The problem is, as previously stated, it invariably impacts on overall performance, so Naim feel itā€™s best avoided.

To use a car analogy, itā€™s like the difference between an SUV and a high performance car. The SUV may not be the most inspiring drive but will drive just fine regardless of how poor the road. The high performance car with be far more exciting and interesting to drive on a good road, but if the road is poor then it becomes less suitable, and you need to take effort to avoid any bumps or potholes.

It might be a good idea to liaise with your dealer on this issue if you find your unable to arrange things satisfactorily. There are one or two people in Naimā€™s R&D dept. who are quite adept at offering further advice on this issue, so could also be worth your dealer making contact with the distributor. Itā€™s a weird issue and luckily one that is very rare, but it does happen.

1 Like

Iā€™m using Monoprice 12 AWG speaker wire. The lengths are about 4-5 feet each.

Are you in the USA?

Yes

I recommend you borrow some different cables.Since you are in the US Thereā€™s a shop called The Cable Company they got pretty much everything and you can borrow them, see what works for you. Ask for John !

2 Likes

Can you share the names of the individuals you have in mind at Naim? I can ask my dealer to reach out.

Are there any specific cables or cable types youā€™d recommend? I tried some Analysis Plusā€™ which were provided by my dealer but they did not help whatsoever.

Wireworld, Audioquest, I really want to say Kimber because of the noise rejecting weave but Naim amps canā€™t tolerate Kimber.

Can your dealer supply with an Audioquest Niagara Power line filter? Say a model 1200, or a Shunyata Research PLC like a venom or hydra series, just to see if the noise is coming in through the Power Line. I know you tried a furman but maybe something better?

Also could your dealer loan you another Nova so as to rule out your specific unit as the cause?

I mean no disrespect , but that is a fairly basic wire to be using for that quality source and that quality speakers, through in the proximity of a transmitter ā€¦

$30.69 for 50 feet and then using 5 foot lengths. I have a Nova and paying about Ā£30 a foot .

I have been reading about RF stories ever since I took an interest in hifi , I would definitely ask your dealer for the loan of better cables

@ywcahello Iā€™m sorry I didnā€™t read your opening post carefully enough. So you tried a different Nova same outcome, and even an Atom.

If I were you Iā€™d do a couple of things. Find out who owns this tower. If itā€™s attached to an office go find out all you can about it and the company that operates it. Then Iā€™d call the FCC in your area and complain if the owners of this tower canā€™t or wonā€™t help you. Iā€™d also maybe try out some other brand besides Naim. It might just be how the Naim is made. You could try say a Devialet thatā€™s an all in one unit. I owned one for a couple of years and thought it was a really nice unit.

Iā€™m also wondering are you using WiFi or wired Ethernet?

You hear it when the amp is on because speakers are passive. If you heard it when the amp was off Iā€™d be scared to death since that amount of EMI/ RFI might be lethal!

Iā€™ve messaged you.

1 Like

I was not able to isolate the circuit yet since there is a z-wave in-wall dimmer on that same circuit breaker. Iā€™m wiring up a completely dedicated line this weekend that will allow me to turn off absolutely everything in the house except for the amp. Weā€™ll see how that goes.

Though again, if it were a power issue, I would suspect moving the orientation of the speaker cables would not affect the volume of the noise coming from the speakers, right?

Thanks for the additional tips. Iā€™d really like to stick with Naim but yes, another manufacturer may be an option.

I am using WiFi. I have tested this issue though with both WiFi access points/router powered off so I do not believe that to be the issue. I have decent physical separation from neighbors as well. I wouldnā€™t suspect a neighboring houseā€™s WiFi would cause this interference.