u/depatrickcie87

I have been trouble shooting ground loop interference noise in my home theater for a of weeks. A new amp (Emotiva BasX A3) that I've added seems to receive interference from the projector when it is displaying an image and connected to my AVR via HDMI. I've tried a lot of weird crap already but most of those solutions don't focus on the projector itself. A lot of times it helps to wire the chassis of two pieces of equipment causing interference, but I don't see how you apply that technique to this projector with it's plastic chassis. Desperate for solutions if anyone has any ideas.

Edit to add: Realizing that most of the external screws on the projector are used for it's ceiling mount. Would one of those screws be a good place to try and could the fact that their currently connected to a solid piece of metal that's also screwed into the ceiling cause a problem?

I've been trying to solve a ground loop issue for a couple weeks, ever since i added an amp to my home theater.

The Hardware:

5.1.4 Speaker system, all klipsch rp

Emotiva BasX A3 Amp to drive the main LCR

Onkyo TX-RZ30 AVR

BenQ HT4550i Projector

Gaming PC, i7 14700k, 4090

(2)Panamax MR4300 Power Conditioner/Surge protectors

A nintendo console and some networking crap, but I've ruled them out as contributing to the problem.

All organized and mounted into a 42u rack.

I added an Emotiva BasX A3 to my home theater setup, and eventually noticed a consistent buzz in the background noise, loud enough to be heard from all seating positions.

The first thing I tried, was obviously hooking my main speakers back to the AVR, this does make the buzz stop.

So I took apart my AV rack and started testing things in another room. First plugging the amp into another TV, worked just fine, no buzzing.

I brought the AVR in, and tested the combo and again, observed no buzzing in this configuration.

So at this point I note the one thing that is different, the display. I set it back up in my entertainment room with a monitor, and there was no buzz with this configuration. As soon as I plugged the projector back in, via HDMI into the AVR, the buzz returned. The buzz would remain even if i switched the projector to the another input. I tried another (though identical) HDMI cable on another path as well as a newer power cable, neither made a difference. And since I'm using a fiber optic cable, that was a huge surprise for me. I'm aware most of the fiber optic HDMI's have some copper in them for CEC control. I saw some cables that are "fully fiber optic" which maybe would help, but I don't feel like taking a $150 gamble on that.

I tried some things at the advice of other subs. Attaching a wire to a case screw of the amp to the phono ground on the AVR, or the phono ground into the 12v trigger, weird combinations of the two...

As a temporary "fix" I just plugged my PC directly into the Projector, and I thought that eliminated the background noise, until I noticed higher-end games cause a different buzz. And if i switch to 1080p at 140hz the noise becomes more higher pitched. (Note to self, test those games again with the monitor. But it almost seems like both devices with a C14 plug (everything else uses the c17 without the ground pin) are interfering with the amp

I have contacted Emotiva and still waiting to hear what their options and advice are. Desperate for solutions, my posts to other subs have been deleted for being off-topic by mods, because that's what they do... Willing to spend money to fix it, but don't want to just burn it blindly.

Kind of a stupid question, but it could be the quick fix I need. I know that since fiber optic cables are unidirectional, they need a bit of copper in the cable just for the CEC controls. Mine seems to have a ground loop coming through it making some background noise in my amp. I know it's not the cable, it's the projector it's currently plugged into. But since I don't care about CEC controls, could I just sever them?

Apologize if you've already read a post about this. I deleted my old posts as while I was troubleshooting i operated on a few false assumptions that I dont want to be misinformation or influence anyone about the products I am using.

I recently added an Amp to my audio system. With the amp, I get a light constant buzz of a ground loop in my main channels (the ones the Amp drives).

My troubleshooting steps, so far:

Moving the amp to another room. (No buzz)

Also moving the AVR to that room (no buzz)

Significantly Improving my rack cable management.

Testing them in the home theater with all other equipment unplugged from the AVR and power (no buzz)

I added things back in one at a time, and realized the buzz happens only when the projector is on and displaying an image. Unplugging the HDMI from my AVR to the Projector makes the buzz go away.

I connected my avr to a monitor to see if it always happens when the HDMI output is active (no buzz)

I connected that same cable to my projector (buzz returns)

Connected my projector to a new power cable (buzz returns)

Connected projector to a different outlet. This may have made it a little worse, but im not certain.

So where Im at, Im certain my projector is making my new Amp buzz; but im obviously not going to throw my projector away, I want to keep the Amp, and I wont just tolerate the buzz. Do I have any options?

The equipment list:

BenQ HT4550i

Onkyo Tx-RZ30

Emotiva BasX A3

Klipsch RP 6000fii, 504c ii, 1200sw, SF-2 as surrounds

Pannamax MR4300 power conditioners

Been playing this game for a Long time. I never got around to a huge ship build because I'd usually get burned out before it's finished. I was just admiring some of the submitted ship builds on the Steam gallery and it made me wonder; are most of these being done without entering the /admin mode or WEdit tools? Really, these builds still take tens to hundred of hours whether they spawn the resources or not; so I wouldn't consider that cheating.

I just ordered a Silverstone RM51 that I will be transferring my currently daily driver into so I can organize my AV rack better (42u). I also ordered a Thermalright PA to replace the AIO loop I've been using. It's two years old now and I figure it's not worth the risk of having liquid above a couple grand worth of AV equipment. But how much liquid is in one of these loops even? I'm pretty sure going with the new fan cooler is the right thing to do. It's a home theater build so noise is a little bit of a concern to me.

I've been doing research before investing in my first autonomous cleaning product. For me, a robot vaccuum could be life changing. I'm just concerned one wouldn't be able to get from room to room in my apartment. There are marble slabs seperating each room. Where there is no carpet, it's about an inch high. I have a concern that robots would struggle to get over things I've stubbed my toes on. Also my main room is hard wood with a large rug that leaves about 2 ' of the bare wood on all sides. Does a robot clean and mop a room like that effectively and without water damaging the rug?

I have all my AV equipment in a 42u skeleton rack i picked up on fb marketplace. (Just the skeleton rack, I had to buy all the shelves and ears on my own and used some leftover foam from a room treatment project to make some quick sizes for it)

I have committed the cardinal sin of changing too many things at once. I upgraded an AVR, an Amp, and reorganized the rack while I was at it. Testing it all put back together, I have a light buzz coming through all speakers (all ground level confirmed, I havent climbed up close to my ceiling speakers to know if they're affected too). Waiting for a day off to pull out the new AVR and Amp to test to see if one of them is defective, but I think I just have a bad ground loop. Since I believe going to have to reorganize the rack (again), I wonder if there are any useful organizational tools or accessories that make the task a little more intuitive. Even with some large heavy duty zip ties and velcro straps, there nothing very intuitive to secure the trunks of wiring to, and then im not sure thats something I should even do (perhaps the noise could be coming from the rack itself?)

Components:

PC in full sized tower case.

2 power conditioners, 8 outlets each (not spaced to accommodate warts, unfortunately)

Onkyo rz-30

Emotiva basx a3

Sony Blu-ray player

Router and small switch and well as a bunch of small networking devices. (This is honestly where my organization usually falls apart because of all the different lengths of power cables and wall warts)

Nvidia shield

Output wiring for a 5.1.4 and projector.