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A bit embarrassed to be posting another F80/M80 issue, but here goes…

I have purchased an M80 for one of my nieces. It looks in stunning condition and plays absolutely perfectly. However, as soon as power is applied, there is a low level hum, which appears to be coming from the board. Doesn’t seem local to the transformer, and not coming from the drivers. Is something about to give up? It’s not loud enough to be annoying when music is playing, and from a few metres away you can’t really notice but it is definitely noticable when stood within a few feet.

I just plugged it in today and intend to give it to my niece this weekend. I think it is still going to work ok in her space but I don’t want to hand over something that might go wrong quite soon.

Any experience of what might be going on? My F80 isn’t buzzing, so it is not DC on the mains.

Hi,

It could be something as simple as the mains transformer being loose. There's a large allen bolt inside that secures the transformer to the cast base. The transformer has a plastic cover over it that is also held in place with the allen bolt.

Depending on how adventurous you feel, you could take the top half off the unit and see if the bolt is loose. At least with the top half off, you should be able to track down the source of the noise.

The only other contender could be the CD load mechanism. Try inserting and ejecting a CD a couple of times and see if the noise goes away.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks, Steve.

I had it apart this evening. It is the transformer. It doesn’t seem to like being fastened down. Removed and put on a chopping board, it is basically silent. Put some bike bar tape under it to damp it, which works ok with low tightening but then putting the top back on seems to load it up again, so it gets a bit louder. Loudest when stood over it but not too bad when in front of it. Maybe some washers and longer bolts on the connection between top and bottom would solve it. Had the option to return it but it is in such good condition otherwise that I have decided to hold on to it, as the dampening and loosened bolts have made it more tolerable.

The Russ Andrews F80/M80 upgrade includes a new transformer.

If only it wasn’t more than I paid for the whole thing and hadn’t been discontinued as of today!

Hi

And now discontinued by Russ Andrews as of April 2026!

The wonders of technology 🤷‍♂️