I recently discovered a hum in my system that I did not have before. I thought that I would disconnect everything except the optical cables and start from scratch. The hum is definitly coming from my Monster line conditioners. The 3500 and 3600 model. I have had a number of power surges over the last year. Three or four to be exact and I was always happy to see that there was no damage to my system. However this hum is a real pain in the a.. even though I do not hear it from where I am setting.

Will this hum cause damage to my speakers? Is it possible that there is damage to the line conditioner from the power surges?

My left main speaker is about a foot away from the line conditioners and two feet from the processor. The right main is two feet from the amp and four feet from the processor.
I have B&W 804 speakers.

While I do not think that this is a serious problem I would like to solve it.
The outlets in this dedicated room are fairly new and grounded. I do not think it is a electrical problem giving that the problem did not exists before. I do have one extension cord for the projector running though a pvc line with the ground cable that is attached to a cold water pipe. Also I have an antenna line runnining thought the same piece of pvc. The other component cables are running though a seperate pipe of pvc.

Is there an inexpensive meter I could purchase to check things out as I go along?

Any suggestions are welcome.. Thanks in advance and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

If you've had a number of power surges you may very well need to replace the line conditioners. They protect your equipmetn but are not invincible.

Also could have developed a ground loop problem.

I personally would stay away from Monster, no price/quality ratio there, but that is a different discussion.

It is not uncommon for electronic equipment to hum a bit, particularly when you put your ears right up on it.

It should not translate into hum in your speakers, but you might experience a slight increase in your noise floor.

Unless you've had actual lightning strikes or some other huge surges in power, you shouldn't have problems with your line conditioners.

If you can't hear it from the listening position, then I wouldn't worry about it.

I have this problem too. My 990 was dead slient when I bought. Now there is a littel static that is put out at a low level all the time. It sucks. It is a rats nest behind it now so once we get to our new place I am hoping it goes away, otherwise? It would be nice if there is a quick and easy fix. It was one of the things I liked to show off was that the Pre-amp was dead slient no mater what.

That sucks. I know what you're going through.

Just in the off chance it's not totally related to the Monster conditioners, I'll float a couple thoughts for you...

Do you have cable tv? If so, have any changes occured there? I had a nagging ground problem that was not resolved until I had digital cable service run. The culprit? The cable was not grounded outside. Before the Cox technician found and fixed the problem, I used cheater plugs on the amps and it worked well.

Also, are any of your speaker cables intertwined with power cables. And/or did you run any in-wall wiring in close proximity to speaker cables? When I finished my basement a few years ago, the darn electrican ran AC wire right next to the speaker cables for my surrounds! There was no way I could move them without totally rewiring both. So, to this day, I get a slight hum on my surrounds. Arrgh!

Lastly, regarding you meter question, there is a plug-in meter that will test all your outlets for ground problems. You can pick them up at Home Depot or Lowes in the electrical aisle. I think they're around $10 or so.

Good luck!

Thanks people.
The hum is very slight. It is coming from the line conditions even when every thing is off. The only time I hear it is when I put my ear about two feet from the line conditioners. I do not have the hum coming from the speakers unless I turn on my laser disc player. In that case the hum is in all speakers.
I have a tester to check the ground in the outlets and will do so on Monday since that is the next best time I can do so.
I am going to disconnect everything and start from scratch.
I just cannot figure this little bugger out.
I spent two days moving electrical cable (romax) away from all of my component cable. The only line that is running side by side with my component cable for my projector is my from my surround speaker.

Thanks Frank

Videodrome:
Do you have cable tv? If so, have any changes occured there?
Yes I do have cable and I have a new carrier that I am unhappy with since they have not corrected the billing. However when I enable the RCN mode for the cable I do not get any hum thru my 804's.

Also, are any of your speaker cables intertwined with power cables?
I seperated all of the power cables (ROMAX) from any Home Theater lines.

And/or did you run any in-wall wiring in close proximity to speaker cables?
NO.

I have a tester to check the ground in the outlets.

The hum is coming directly from the line conditioners. No where else. When I engage the laser disc mode I get a hum in all of my speakers. I use to have the same issue when I turned the cable box on but I since eliminated the hum because of a new component cable I installed.
The upside of it is I feel I am making progress but I am somewhat impatient.

Frank

I have a Monster Power 3600 unit that's not quite one year old, and is also starting to hum slightly- I believe that unfortunately the cause is most likely the transformer(s) that Monster is using in the units-
Age & heat can cause the metal plates that some transformers are built around to "delaminate", creating just enough of a gap to generate the 60 Hz buzz/hum we're hearing. If this is indeed the case, then then bad news is that it will most likely gradually increase in volume over time-

Thanks for the bad news.
I sort of figured that out after six hours of trying to eliminate the unrelenting HUM.
I do appreciate that someone else is going thru the same problem although I am not happy to hear you have a problem.
The strange part about it is that besides hearing it when all sources are off I really notice it when I engage my Pioneer Elite laser disc.
I disconnected everything, all power outlet cords except from both line conditioners (3500 3600) and component cables and the hum was still there.
So Einstien that I am, if everything is dissconnected and the only electronics that are plugged in is line conditioners and the HUM is still there, the HUM has got to be coming from the 3500 and the 3600.
So it looks as though I will be spending more money.
What are you going to do.

Forget about Monster and go with TrippLite, better quality for less money.