Bottlehead Forum

On the Paramour and hum - my experience

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IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS: Please read this message and its replies thoroughly before considering what I've done to be good advice, or advice at all, for that matter. I'm a novice. I could be way off base here.

I purchased a second-hand Paramour-1 off of Audiogon. It was an impulse buy. I'd intended to build a 2A3/45 amp and it seemed like a nice, cheap way to hear a well-regarded parafeed amp. I've built several PP amps and even a 300B amp. The Paramour is surely a close contender for the nicest sounding amp I've ever owned.

There was a problem, though. I don't yet own a 'scope (I should, really), so all mentions of hum are given without mathematical reference.
There was an annoying level of hum happening - even with the C4S installed and hum pots balanced. It was more like a multi-frequency buzz, and it was clearly audible during quiet passages in the music. After staring down the circuit and repeatedly insisting that adding more parts was likely not the solution, I noticed that there was no connection at all between signal and chassis ground. I connected the ground leg of the first filter cap to chassis ground (lug 3) and the hum and buzz completely disappeared.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I was indeed using a passive volume control box in lieu of a preamp, therefore there was no physical reference to chassis ground anywhere in the circuit. I'm now led to assume that the Foreplay, which is intended for use with the Paramour has a signal to chassis ground. Is this correct?
I hope I'm not merely being distracting with this observation.

Adam

Follow Ups:

The Foreplay (1, 2, III) Ground - Grainger49 06:09:17 03/27/08 (2)
- RE: The Foreplay (1, 2, III) Ground - LowRedMoon 13:39:46 03/27/08 (1)
  - I Answered In The Wrong Thread (NT) - Grainger49 11:53:09 03/30/08 (0)
RE: On the Paramour and hum - my experience - vanofmonks 04:32:20 03/27/08 (1)
- RE: On the Paramour and hum - my experience - LowRedMoon 10:10:12 03/27/08 (0)
The FP has a ground bus to chassis ground. (nt) - Gaspode 03:33:21 03/27/08 (0)

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