You’ve no doubt heard it before. You turn the volume up—no music playing—and there it is. A low, steady hum, soft but unignorable. It doesn’t change when you switch inputs. It doesn’t leave when the music starts. You’ve probably swapped cables, tried different outlets, even changed power strips. Still there. Not hiss. Not digital noise. Not transformer buzz. Just… hum.
You might be hearing a ground loop singing its quiet, unwelcome song.
What to Do
Unplug each component in the system, one at a time. Start with the source, then the preamp, then any peripherals. At some point, the hum will stop. That’s your clue. The loop usually forms when multiple grounded components connect through different wall sockets. For testing, you can try a cheater plug (those 3-to-2-prong adapters)—but only temporarily. The real fix is to ground everything from one master point. Use the same outlet, or a power conditioner that keeps ground paths unified. Balanced power conditioners can help—but they’re not step one. Start with grounding.
You’re not looking to float the hum—you’re looking to eliminate the path that feeds it.
Here’s Why That Works
When two components connect to ground in different places, and there’s a voltage difference between those grounds, that difference creates a small circulating current. It flows through your audio interconnects, and your system amplifies it as a 60Hz hum. That’s the root of the problem—not the cable, not the amp, not the power strip. It’s the ground.
Fix that path, and the hum doesn’t fade—it vanishes.
You’ll hear the difference not just in the silence, but in the space behind it. When the noise floor drops, the music has room to step forward. Not louder—clearer. The background darkens. And the notes, finally, arrive unaccompanied.
