Buzz in Home Theater System

[jdandy]

I have a faint buzz in my home theater system that is driving me crazy. I managed to get the dimmer noise out of the system with the PS Audio Soloist Premier and the PPP, but there is this faint buzz that is still present. It does not get louder when I raise the volume, but when things are silent the buzzing noise can be heard.

Today was the day to totally disconnect every wire from the MX120, and find out what's causing it. The MX120 connected to the MC352, with nothing else connected, is silent, so the buzzing isn't coming from either of those two pieces of gear. Each time I connected a cable back to the MX120 I energized it, and listened. It turned out to be a noise that is introduced into the MX120 by the DirecTV HD satellite receiver. As soon as I made the HDMI connection from the sat receiver to the MX120 the buzz could be heard. I disconnted the satellite coaxial cable, or the HDMI cable from the sat receiver and the buzz is gone. If I leave the HDMI cable connected between the MX120 and the Satellite receiver, and disconnect the coaxial cable from the satellite dish, the buzing stops. The noise is coming in on the coaxial cable.

Up on the roof I go to check the grounding on the satellite dish. I wasn't happy with the chintzy way the dish installer grounded the dish, so I installed a #10 solid conductor copper wire from the dish to the cable grounding blocks, and from there through the attic, and down to the ground bar in my house panel. The buzz is still there. It's not loud enough to be objectionable when the TV sound is turned to a normal listening level, except when there is no sound for a moment, then you notice it.

I thought perhaps using a component cable instead of the HDMI cable between the satellite receiver and the MX120 might make the buzz stop. No luck there. Then I moved one of my other satellite receivers from upstairs to the studio, still no luck, the buzzing noise is still present.

It doesn't matter which source I select on the MX120, whether it's DVD, Tuner, Phono, or Satellite, the buzzing is present. The moment I unplug the HDMI cable from the satellite receiver there is silence. I even tried grounding the satellite receiver to the ground terminal on the MX120, but no luck.

Needless to say, this has put a burr under my saddle blanket, and it is irritating me. I can leave the HDMI cable unplugged when I am not watching satellite TV, and all is well, but I want to be able to have all the sources properly connected to the MX120 without the noise.

Has anyone else experienced this problem with a satellite receiver? Any suggestions on a fix would be helpful.

[1KW]

Sounds like you need to switch over to cable tv. Seriously, have you called the satellite tv customer service people ? You may have a problem with the cable going from the dish into your house ?

[jdandy]

David.......I live in a rural area. The nearest town with cable TV is 15 miles up the road. Out here it is satellite or nothing.

[Masterlu]

Dan, whose HDMI cable are you using?

[Still-One]

Dan
I thought I remember reading somewhere about some filter/block that would add near the connections at the Sat Dish. Darned if I can remember where i read it. Did you call the Sat company and complain?
Jim

[Masterlu]

I can't tolerate any buzz's or hum's in my system either. I will stop at nothing to get rid of them. My 2-Channel room was perfect from the start, the Theater required some work to get it dead silent.

[JFR0317]

Dan, you've already tried everything I would have to start off with. I have a Directv HD DVR feeding my MX120 with no issues. The one thing different in my system than yours is that I am using an RGPC Pole Pig.

One other thought on the Directv setup, do you have a multi-switch in line between your dish and your TV?

One more thought - how do you have the digital audio from the Directv receiver connected to your MX120? I'd try SPDIF optical if you aren't already using it.

If all of the above fails, try dbstalk.com and search for buzzing.

Hope this helps.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

Dan, whose HDMI cable are you using?

Ivan.......I am using Tributaries Series 5 two meter HDMI cables.

[1KW]

Dan, have you tried disconnecting the other satellite boxes in the house ? Then try moving a box from another room to your home theater to rule out a hum coming from a faulty transformer problem from one of your boxes.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Stillone

Dan
I thought I remember reading somewhere about some filter/block that would add near the connections at the Sat Dish. Darned if I can remember where i read it. Did you call the Sat company and complain?
Jim

Jim.......I tend to make every effort I can in advance of calling a stranger into my home. Calling DirecTV would be a last resort for me. In the end, I will do what I have to do, but until I have exhusted all my other resources, I won't bring a DirecTV into my home.

Some sort of filter block for the coax cable would be a good thing if it works.