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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: It’s mad, mad, mad... electricity.

Post Subject: Buzzing with Schoenberg and the PP2000Posted by drdna on: 5/31/2009

Something very interesting happened today in my battle with the incessant buzz in the PP2000. No, it did not go away unfortunately, but I learned something new.

Perhaps inspired by the recent discussions around the original pressings, I decided to spin a few nice old mono recordings.

Now, as has become my habit, I listen with the PP2000 unplugged, as that eliminates the buzzing. And I listened to a few albums. First Sofia Gubaidulina's The Last Seven Words of Jesus on the Cross, followed by Penderecki's Utrenja, and then Tchaikovsky's Symphony Number 4 in F Minor. Incidentally, the second movement is absolutely spectacular. It reminds me very much of the the visit of the Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol. Wonderfully nostalgic.

In any event, I happened to be smoking a Salomones by the fire as I was listening. It is a particularly long cigar, and I had a little more to go, so I decided to put on another record. Here I chose Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, as I was seeking something a bit more subtle to follow the at times heavy-handed Tchaikovsky. Now, when I did this, I decided I had better plug the PP2000 back in to the wall, as I was not sure how long it could go on battery power alone.

Well, when I plugged the PP2000 back in, instead of the familiar buzz, I heard a loud growling buzz. The unit itself was actually buzzing audibly as well. This was a low frequency warbling of sorts. Having been assured that the unit was unlikely to blow up by APS and with the cigar already lit, I sat down to listen undaunted. Over the next few minutes the loud warbling buzz continued, gradually speeding up in frequency. After a few minutes it had become a continuous buzzing. A few minutes more and it changed to the familiar extremely high pitched buzz with which I am familiar, and there it stayed.
So now I am wondering if what I am hearing -- the high frequency buzz -- is simply the sound of the PP2000's charging circuit? My upper frequency hearing is quite good, and I sometimes cover my ears from high pitched sounds that no one else around me notices. So is it possible that other PP2000 owners simply are not hearing this buzz because the frequency is too high for them?
Or maybe my unit is defective and going to blow up soon.
Adrian

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