Terrible Plasma Hum

[Evil Elvis]

So, 2 weeks ago I went out and bought a Samsung PN58B860Y2F.  I didn't notice any hum when I was looking at the TV in the showroom, but it's tough to tell with all the ambient noise, and whatnot.

Anyway, the second I received the TV and turned it on I could hear the high-pitched whine coming out of the back.  Worse, the hum is the most noticeable when I'm sitting directly in front of the TV.  Moving to the left or right a few feet, or even standing up makes it harder to hear, but it's still not ideal.  I've heard of plasma hum before, but never actually experienced it.  I have a 42" Panasonic Viera, and it's dead silent.

I called tech support, and they sent a repair tech over today.  Unfortunately, the dude had tennitus in both ears, and couldn't hear the hum even with his head directly on the TV =/  He installed a new power source, but it didn't solve the problem.  He called up their tier 3 tech support, and they basically said the hum is normal.

I'm trying to weight my options at this point.  I love everything else about the TV, but the hum is really distracting.  I was considering getting a noise canceling tile or two to put behind the TV, but I hate to shell out extra cash, especially since I've no guarantee it'd work.  I could complain to tech support more to try to get them to send me another set, but I'm afraid this is just a problem with this model.  Lastly, I could try to get ABC warehouse to refund my money or swap me for another set, but I'm unsure about their refund policy at the moment.

Any suggestions?

[Hawkbit]

Pretty straight forward.  Return it if you can. 

I went through three TVs when I bought my recent 42".  Yeah, three. 

It's a lot of money to not like it.  You'll always look at the issue and regret it down the road.

[dusematic]

What in the fuck?  How can you hear the TV hum over any significant volume?  I've never experienced this.  Are you sure you're not just one of those sketchy newegg-y douchebags who leave ultra critical reviews that are so absurd you're forced to laugh out loud?

You should double check to makre sure you're not one of those guys.  Maybe have a non-tech guy come over and watch some tv for awhile.

[schild]

What in the fuck?  How can you hear the TV hum over any significant volume?  I've never experienced this.  Are you sure you're not just one of those sketchy newegg-y douchebags who leave ultra critical reviews that are so absurd you're forced to laugh out loud?

You should double check to makre sure you're not one of those guys.  Maybe have a non-tech guy come over and watch some tv for awhile.

Stop trying so hard.

[dusematic]

What in the fuck?  How can you hear the TV hum over any significant volume?  I've never experienced this.  Are you sure you're not just one of those sketchy newegg-y douchebags who leave ultra critical reviews that are so absurd you're forced to laugh out loud?

You should double check to makre sure you're not one of those guys.  Maybe have a non-tech guy come over and watch some tv for awhile.

Stop trying so hard.

Lame.  Go Google "plasma hum" for me.  Very few hits, and the forum responses you get read like the diary of Edward Scissor Hands.  We're talking complete shut-in sketchball-type shit.  It doesn't even fucking make sense for you to be able to hear a hum from the TV with any legitimate volume going.  Get some surround sound.  Jesus.

[Oban]

I stopped buying plasma tv's awhile ago because I could hear the hum (almost like fan noise?) during quiet sections of movies.

[dusematic]

I stopped buying plasma tv's awhile ago because I could hear the hum (almost like fan noise?) during quiet sections of movies.

Fair enough.  I was legitimately asking.  Never heard it, but I roll with a 58" Samsung LCD these days.

[Selby]

As someone who still has sensitive hearing, I would just return it if the hum is that bad.  All of my TVs do it too depending on the colors on the screen, which makes me really not enjoy watching TV.

[Evil Elvis]

Like I said, my other plasma is quiet.  If I put my head behind the set I can hear the electronic whirl, but moving more than a foot away, I can't hear it. 

This TV, I can hear from across the room.

[Yegolev]

My Mitsubishi LCD is silent as a corpse.  I avoided plasma not because I can hear very high-pitched sounds, but good to know I made a sound (nyuk nyuk) decision.

[Trippy]

If you fiddle with the brightness does the hum volume change?

[dusematic]

My Mitsubishi LCD is silent as a corpse.  I avoided plasma not because I can hear very high-pitched sounds, but good to know I made a sound (nyuk nyuk) decision.

lol

[Morfiend]

My Mitsubishi LCD is silent as a corpse.  I avoided plasma not because I can hear very high-pitched sounds, but good to know I made a sound (nyuk nyuk) decision.

I am also sensitive to very high pitched sounds. In fact I can tell when any TV is turned on in my house.

Honestly if the noise is bad like you say, I would return it and get a different model. Thats something you will regret for a long time if you dont get it taken care of.

[Evil Elvis]

If you fiddle with the brightness does the hum volume change?

None of the settings affects the volume of the hum.  The pitch of the hum is affected by both the Energy Saving and Mode settings (pitch gets higher the brighter these make the screen), but not from the brightness setting.

[Yegolev]

I am also sensitive to very high pitched sounds. In fact I can tell when any TV is turned on in my house.

I could do this with CRTs but LCDs are not loud or are the wrong pitch.  I am never alone with a plasma TV so I don't know about those.

I'll also say: take the TV back.  If you are already posting on the internet about it, it's not going to be any less annoying a month from now.

[Righ]

The high pitched hum I hear during quiet anything has been carefully created by years of motorcycle riding and rock concerts.  

But the rest of you fuckers are going deaf listening to iPods, so evs.

[Trippy]

If you fiddle with the brightness does the hum volume change?

None of the settings affects the volume of the hum.  The pitch of the hum is affected by both the Energy Saving and Mode settings (pitch gets higher the brighter these make the screen), but not from the brightness setting.

Okay thats sounds (pun not intended) like "coil whine". Replacing the TV with the same model might not fix the problem if they aren't damping the sound internally (e.g. by coating the coils to reduce/eliminate the vibration) by design.

I am also sensitive to very high pitched sounds. In fact I can tell when any TV is turned on in my house.

Yeah I can hear the "whine" coming from CRT TVs that are turned on with no volume in a quiet room too.

[Evil Elvis]

If you fiddle with the brightness does the hum volume change?

None of the settings affects the volume of the hum.  The pitch of the hum is affected by both the Energy Saving and Mode settings (pitch gets higher the brighter these make the screen), but not from the brightness setting.

Okay thats sounds (pun not intended) like "coil whine". Replacing the TV with the same model might not fix the problem if they aren't damping the sound internally (e.g. by coating the coils to reduce/eliminate the vibration) by design.

That's my worst fear; it's just a noisy model.  I just found this thread that makes it sound like that's the case for all Samsung 'B' models.  The customer service has been decent so far at least.  I called again, and they're going to replace the set.  If the new one makes the noise, I'll have to try to return it, and get a different model/brand.