How I fixed my Sony amplifier receiver humming or buzzing

I purchased a Sony receiver STR-AV 550 and it has a horrible buzzing/ humming from speakers even with volume all the way down. It turn out to be speaker wire related. Pieces broke off in the speaker terminals in the back of the amp.

[betocapano]

Thank you for this great advice !!! (. now help me get rid of my cars check engine light ! ) .

[finemc]

Wow, thanks for the short video. I've been chasing a low level buzz that is independent of all controls for quite awhile in my old Sony receiver. Tightening the heat sink screws solved it! Appreciate you taking the time to make this video, I was getting ready to dump it.

[JM-yxlm]

Hey at least it only took you 2 minutes to say frayed speaker wire strands in the inputs. Some people make a 20 min video just to say that.

[PersonNinja]

Picked up this same receiver and it had the same buzz/hum. Tried cleaning out the speaker terminals as you suggested (there was some bits of speaker wire in them) but that did little to reduce the sound. Thankfully though reseating all the internal connectors and dusting everything out with a can of air did clear things up.

[AudioElectronicsChicago]

WOW, that was a simple fix, good thinking
Thanks for posting

[calchav]

Thanks, I have a problem with my receiver also, I will check that now. Thanks for the awesome tip!

[filmadordecarros]

Hey Shawn, just a tip for you: I've noticed that at 0:59 you had removed too much of the wire insulation, be careful not to short circuit the speaker outputs by accident (eg. by moving your setup with wires attached to the terminals).

Cutting about 10 milimeters of the insulaton is enough, I would suggest you to cut just a tiny bit of the exposed wire or cut the whole exposed wire off and redo the connection cutting only 10mm of the insulation.

[sandmansimms]

Wow and I have a Sony from around 2001 2002 that's doing it yesterday when I turned it on. I havent used it in a long long time and wanted to use it in my garage when messing with the cars. Will definitely try this today. Thanks

[ChillToMusic]

A great tip to share with us, thank you.

[robertblumpkin]

Very true, my aiwa receiver, same thing. Thank you!

[filmic]

Thanks, I just bought a new PYLE double deck and the record deck B gives me a low albeit noticeable hum. The Playback only deck (A) is clean. Both sides give a lovely range though. My Sony receiver's sound is clean as a whistle. They are both brand new. Maybe it's a grounding problem.... Thanks for sharing.

[_oscar_]

this fixed it instantly thank you so much

[azmike]

Shawn, i'm trying that tomorrow on my Kenwood KM-208. I sure hope it works.
Thanks bud!

[nickfrench]

Watch out for that live high voltage ⚡ fuse and terminals, , , , of the power outlet.

[reevissequeira]

Amazing I will try it out. Hope it works

[Steve-nohh]

Hey, Shawn, I hope you caught the practical joker who displayed that Foreigner concert poster above your stereo just before you shot the video! Except for that poster, you seem to give good, sound advice.

And I will see it this is the cause of the humming in my 3yo Onkyo receiver, which I believe got a recommendation in Wirecutter — and presumably those testers at least check for background humming/buzzing. (Unlike my newly-purchased 21st-century Onkyo receiver, my 20th-century Pioneer CD player, purchased from Goodwill, is utterly silent when it is playing music.)

Anyway, I suppose it's possible some wire got into this receiver, before I invested in new cable AND in pro-quality wire strippers, which are kinda magical. Btw, I wish you included the humming in this video. My Onkyo's buzz/hum includes a rapid clicking sound, which I also heard in a 1min video recording of another ONKYO — that mightve been your vid too, come to think of it.

I have discovered a workaround for now -- simply closing the glass & walnut front doors on the nice solid walnut stereo cabinet I inherited from my parents. The receiver shelf is open in the back, but the buzzing doesn't reach my ears from there …or if it does, it matches the frequencies of my tinnitus.)

[davidewing]

I had this same buzzing in my sony amp. Finally fixed it by loosening and retightening a ground screw on the main circuit board.

[CanSalvAnemic]

Thanks, I have a 00ish jvc cd/radio flat sys. Similar situation. Will try this.

[russduff]

I have a Sony STR-AV910 that had this buzz. I loosened and retightened the heat sink screws, but that did nothing. I loosened and retightened the ground screw on the power supply board with no change. I then loosened and retightened the ground screw on the main board and the input board, and that fixed the problem. I would attach a picture if I could. Look for screws holding the boards down that have metal tabs under them, these are the grounds.

[prettyflowers]

Its not stated but I assume this buzzing did not come from the speakers but the receiver chassis itself?