Everything’s powered up. You’re just settling in. The room’s quiet. Then—someone hits a switch. A soft pop, a faint tick, maybe a little crackle through the speakers. It’s over in a blink, but it sometimes pulls you right out of the moment.
You’ve probably rechecked your cables, maybe reseated a power cord or tried a different outlet. Still, it lingers. Not loud, not destructive—just that little reminder the house is sharing the line.
It might not be your gear at all. It could be the wiring behind the walls.
What to Do
If your audio system shares a circuit with lighting—especially dimmers or fluorescent fixtures—consider relocating it to a different breaker line. It’s a subtle change, but sometimes that’s all it takes. Swapping outlets to a quieter part of the house can help. So can adding a line filter between your gear and the wall. Look for one designed for audio use—not just a generic surge bar. Brands like Tripp Lite and Furman offer solid options under $100.
In more persistent cases, a DC blocker or power regenerator may be the final piece. A regenerator doesn’t just filter the noise—it rebuilds the sine wave from scratch.
Here’s Why That Works
Light switches—especially older ones—don’t always open or close cleanly. When they flip mid-cycle, they can send a small voltage transient racing down the line. That spike may only last microseconds, but it can ride through shared wiring and land right where your DAC or preamp is trying to hold still.
Sensitive analog stages and digital clocks don’t always shrug that off. Instead, they react—with a tick, a pop, or something just a little unsettled.
Once you isolate your gear from those transients, silence feels different. Not just quiet, but at ease. You sit down, press play—and this time, nothing flickers. Not even the moment.
