Hiss / hum after adding new receiver. Help?

[asearls]

First let me thank everyone for their input on this board. I appreciate the info that is shared on this forum. Now for my dilemma. Last night i hooked up a factory refurbished Harmon avr 525 that i had won on ebay. Unfortunately I immediately heard a hiss/ hum coming from all speakers. I never had this problem with my Onkyo 502. To make sure i wasn't crazy, i reconnected the onkyo and the noise was gone. Do you guys think that this is a defect in the harmon receiver or do you think this could be caused by poor speaker wire, ground loop, or something else. Any ideas would be appreciated. I tried to contact harmon, but they are out on the weekend. Thanks in advance for your responses.;)

[bikezappa]

Try switching the 120 volt plug position in you reciever.

[unc2701]

if it's at about 60htz and doesn't get louder when you turn up the volume, it's ground loop. Otherwise, dump it. I've heard a lot of stories about HK sucking, catching fire & other QC issues. Return it while you can,

[asearls]

I tried everything i could think of to fix this horrid sound. Finally i gave up and sent the unit back to harman audio. They were really good aboout accepting the return and didn't give me any bs. Guess I should wait til my credit card has been credited before i give them too much credit. I'm really disappointed as many of the guys on this forum enjoy their hk products. I hooked my onkyo back up and it still sounds great. Sometimes it feels like we are looking for the HOLY GRAIL of audio. We just can't be happy with what we have. Thanks for all of the posts.

[Pinktulip7]

Listen dude Harman Kardon make the best receiver!!sound like that receiver has technical issue,get a brand new one...

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

Originally posted by Pinktulip7
Listen dude Harman Kardon make the best receiver!!sound like that receiver has technical issue,get a brand new one...

H/K makes good stuff no doubt, but it's not the 'best' you can get.

'Best' is defined by a great number of variables, many of which are subjective to who is listening.

I like H/K and own their stuff, but I will say this. H/K has had more QC issues recently than any other manufacturer in that market that I am aware of.

H/K is great stuff, you just gotta find one that works...