[AnyDave]

Only occasional and very quiet. I presumed there’s something on the circuit triggering it. I should really upgrade the power block.

Sometimes the VEGA G2.2 does the same but as with the Aegis you nearly have to put your ear on it to confirm the source. Lets put it this way, nothing like the hum I used to get from some Naim power supplies which could be heard a few metres away easily!

Yeah, it's not all that loud (and certainly can't be heard with headphones on. I may try to tweak it a bit. I'm thinking of laser cutting foam gaskets to mount between the transformers and the chassis.

 

[Toonartist]

Yeah, it's not all that loud (and certainly can't be heard with headphones on. I may try to tweak it a bit. I'm thinking of laser cutting foam gaskets to mount between the transformers and the chassis.

Good idea. It happens so little and faint I would only consider something like that if I had to remove it for another reason. It's been a while since I heard the Aegis do it... the VEGA did it a couple of nights back. Actually, I'm not sure it's done it since installing the Orea isolation feet. I'll try to keep an ear open to see if it returns again!

 

[cats4cans]

Yeah, it's not all that loud (and certainly can't be heard with headphones on. I may try to tweak it a bit. I'm thinking of laser cutting foam gaskets to mount between the transformers and the chassis.

It might be DC offset or something from your mains. I’ve read that’s not an uncommon cause for a transformer to physically hum.

 

[Marutks]

It might be DC offset or something from your mains. I’ve read that’s not an uncommon cause for a transformer to physically hum.

Mine does it too

 

[Marutks]

I like EL38 tubes

 

[L0rdGwyn]

It might be DC offset or something from your mains. I’ve read that’s not an uncommon cause for a transformer to physically hum.

Yes, it can be due to some DC offset on mains. There are DC blocker products out there. But mains hum isn't completely abnormal, mains transformers often hum to some extent due to magnetostriction, the core material expands and contracts as it is magnetized and demagnetized 60 times per second. Could try a DC blocker if it becomes very bothersome.

 

[pravous]

Personally have not had any problem with hum, headphone or transformer based on my Aegis. Problem I have with my mains is that it runs hot. Pretty much 123V on all my outlets. Someday when I finally figure out how to go about it, I am thinking of building a balanced isolation transformer.

 

[Toonartist]

Yes, it can be due to some DC offset on mains. There are DC blocker products out there. But mains hum isn't completely abnormal, mains transformers often hum to some extent due to magnetostriction, the core material expands and contracts as it is magnetized and demagnetized 60 times per second. Could try a DC blocker if it becomes very bothersome.

Lol... yeah. I've owned a few Naim products over the time and it's not unusual for them to hum... as in, you can hear them across the room! The music (speakers) drowns it out easily. The Aegis and VEGA are nowhere near the level they were at and for 99% of the time, there's nothing coming from them at all. The Aegis is the quietest amp I've owned!

Next year I may sort out the power supply coming into the system just for completeness.

 

[Toonartist]

I like EL38 tubes

Looking good and yeah, the EL38's are one of my favourite tubes along with the KT88's. I use the KT88's more with the AC than the Elites though. The EL38's are probably used about 70% of the time and I tweak the sound with the rectifier tube. The RCA red base 5691 are a permanent feature... until the Mullard ECC35 temptation becomes too much

 

[AnyDave]

Yes, it can be due to some DC offset on mains. There are DC blocker products out there. But mains hum isn't completely abnormal, mains transformers often hum to some extent due to magnetostriction, the core material expands and contracts as it is magnetized and demagnetized 60 times per second. Could try a DC blocker if it becomes very bothersome.

Yeah, and this may be within the context of normal magnetostriction. I was more curious what everybody else is experiencing than anything else. I wouldn't call it problematic.

 

[goldwerger]

I don’t have any noise or hum of any kind - dead quiet in any volume and with any device (iem to susvara), whether music paused or music plays.

To caveats:
(1) my unit was built by Keenan so perhaps there are some elements of the build he perfected
(2) I used a power conditioner (IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius; tho looking perhaps to upgrade) not sure if this has any positive impact

 

[AnyDave]

I don’t have any noise or hum of any kind - dead quiet in any volume and with any device (iem to susvara), whether music paused or music plays.

To caveats:
(1) my unit was built by Keenan so perhaps there are some elements of the build he perfected
(2) I used a power conditioner (IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius; tho looking perhaps to upgrade) not sure if this has any positive impact

Yeah, mine is dead quiet through the audio path. It's just a mild hum from the transformer itself. It's only heard if you put your head fairly close to the transformer itself.

A power conditioner might help. I also need to go back in and make sure that all of the hardware is fully tight. I might add gaskets to the Xformer mounts.

Or I might just not worry about it. It's not that big of a deal, I just tend to obsess about perfection in something I build. I'm actually more tolerant of things like this if they are built by others.

 

[nonamerat]

I spent some time today investigating the slight noise I was getting at above 75% volume. It was not audible at normal listening volumes, but I knew it could be improved since most others reported zero noise even at 100% volume. Turned out it was my DAC, the D90. I thought it was my PC / cable routing because I currently have the Aegis setup with my gaming PC and not my 'main' system which is much cleaner in terms of cord chaos. I'm rather surprised because the D90 has been silent on every headphone and every amp I used it on. I guess tubes are just very sensitive? I had a Qutest laying around that I put in its place and everything is dead silent even at 100% volume. Qutest will have to be temporary because I need a DAC with dual output to better integrate into this system, but for now I'll leave it in. Just thought I'd share my experience so it might help people in the future.

As for the listening, this is a very impressive amp. I've never heard the VO sound so good. It really woke them up. Caldera is still my favorite, but the Aegis has rekindled my love for the VO. I put in the original Mullard GZ34 fat base and RCA 5691 which really smoothed out the upper mids and treble while controlling the base better than the new production tubes.

 

[DenverW]

I spent some time today investigating the slight noise I was getting at above 75% volume. It was not audible at normal listening volumes, but I knew it could be improved since most others reported zero noise even at 100% volume. Turned out it was my DAC, the D90. I thought it was my PC / cable routing because I currently have the Aegis setup with my gaming PC and not my 'main' system which is much cleaner in terms of cord chaos. I'm rather surprised because the D90 has been silent on every headphone and every amp I used it on. I guess tubes are just very sensitive? I had a Qutest laying around that I put in its place and everything is dead silent even at 100% volume. Qutest will have to be temporary because I need a DAC with dual output to better integrate into this system, but for now I'll leave it in. Just thought I'd share my experience so it might help people in the future.

As for the listening, this is a very impressive amp. I've never heard the VO sound so good. It really woke them up. Caldera is still my favorite, but the Aegis has rekindled my love for the VO. I put in the original Mullard GZ34 fat base and RCA 5691 which really smoothed out the upper mids and treble while controlling the base better than the new production tubes.

Audio does require some creative troubleshooting! I had a hum with my old tubadour iii se dac that drove me crazy. When I was testing my current dac I placed it one shelf up when testing and it was dead silent with my amp. On a whim I moved the tubadour to the same spot…dead silent. It wasn’t the amp or dac by themselves, but when they were too close I had an issue.

 

[Toonartist]

@L0rdGwyn Would the GEC TT21 tube be ok with the Aegis? Apparently this is the same as the GEC KT88 but with a top cap (use pin 3 I believe). There's also a GEC TT22 but that is a 12v version from what I'm told. I'd imagine that is out of reach.