My Altec system Tweaking Including DCX, DEQ and Other Stuff.

[mah]

I had a lack of bass. I made some l-pads to attenuate the CDs and re-adjusted the Lo/Hi levels and the bass magically appeared. WOW!

Next job is to eliminate hum and buzz - most likely caused by balanced-unbalanced interconnect grounding. Less likely by house wiring.

[mah]

Hum and buzz is eliminated.

After making interconnects, as shown in various Rane, Jensen and Sony publications, with no success I found this wonderful document: Grounding and Shielding Audio Devices. MAGIC.

Step 1. Read Note 151(link) thoroughly and read again.

Check each piece of equipment to see if it is Mains Grounded or Signal Grounded.

If the power cord doesn't have an Earth Pin it will be Signal Grounded.

If the power cord HAS an Earth Pin it could be either Mains Grounded or Signal Grounded.

- Connect an Ohmmeter to the power cord Earth pin and to an RCA socket shield/XLR pin 3 on the Unbalanced/Balanced terminal of interest.
- A short-circuit indicates Earth Grounding
- An open-circuit indicates Signal Grounding

The appropriate interconnect wiring configuration can then be selected from Figure 5 in Rane Note 151.

I hope this method can save others from the problems that I encountered along the way.

Cheers, Marshall.

[Alien_Shore]

I almost heard the gnashing of teeth from here...

[cradeldorf]

Glad to hear you conquered the problem buddy. : )

[mah]

Yeah, the teeth got a good workout - a very frustrating part of the project. I still think the simpler arrangement of a single amp with passive crossover has a lot going for it.