Pioneer 8G Kuro buzz poll - Page 54

Well its good that I am in the minority as that means two things - others are enjoying their plasma tv's and, it does suggest there is a problem.

I didn't return my 5010 right away for a couple of reasons but the one that is relevant is that - - mea culpa -- was not fully aware this was a permanent situation and hoped over time it might go away with the first 100 hours. I am very LCD aware (based on graphic work) but at the time not as plasma aware.

From what I "see" on the 5010 is a beautiful image. There is no doubt its a great image. What I hear, along with others is "on screen" (literally) loud hum/buzz that changes according to what is on screen. I have no problem at all if there was a slight noise from behind.

Again - I'll be engaging Pioneer via the phone number provided by the merchant who sold me the 5010. Btw, I did visit a local store that had the latest Kuro lines and they were kind enough to turn off volume on neighboring displays and the "hum/buzz" difference was amazing. These screens as some had said here have a barely audible hum that required you to get very close up to hear it. - A far cry from my 5010.

To all - thanks for your input here and sorry if any advocates of 5010's felt I slighted their choice of TV.

- Phrehdd

Don't be fooled. The buzz intensity doesn't diminish with distance. For me the level at 3ft is the same as at 30ft. The buzz is also very directional. If you move 6ft to the side and up for example the intensity lower a great deal but if you get back to the sweet spot it's defeaning.

You can "audition" a tv at the store and the level will initially seem bearable but when you bring that tv back home and sit in your sitting position you will find that the buzz is exactly the same or similar/worse to than it was before.

Don't take my word for it. Ask around and many users will tell you that even after 2, 3, 4 replacement sets the buzz is still there.

Many users have powersave set to 2 which dims the image greatly and state that the buzz lowers/is acceptable. Personally I am on powersave 2 since the day I bought it and sit 10ft off center in order to be able to watch.

My advice is if you like the kuro exchange it 2-3 times until you find the quietest set, then set it to powermode 2, then mount it off center both horizontal & vertical, or sit off center and forget about it.

I have a 5080 and have Very Mild Buzzing, Not at all annoying.
Powersave set to 2

I have a 5080 and noticed the buzz coming from the top right/back of the display from day 1. It is audible at 12ft away under "normal" tv listening volumes (10-14).

I don't hear any buzzing now on my 5080, but with my computer on and my head turned sideways I can hear a very faint buzzing. I think the computer noise is reinforcing the panel buzz ?

Add me to the list, as I selected "Yes, & it's annoying".

I have a 4280HD purchased new w/ 300 hrs. logged thus far incl. 150 hrs. w/ Evangelo break-in DVD. It is wall-mounted @ eye level, & from 8' away using D-Nice reference settings, I can clearly hear the buzz w/ a tv volume level up to 14.

I new of the buzzing problems & hesitated from purchasing in the past, but decided that since my 3yr. old Panny had fan noise & slight buzz, I could live w/ it to get the beautiful Kuro image @ my 42" size limit. This does hold true... I CAN live w/ it, but of course I wish that I had been lucky enough NOT to have buzzing problems.

I will try Power save mode 2, & see if this helps. Listening thru AVR/ 5.1 system @ slightly louder levels helps too; but the wife often prefers it not to be so loud.

Edit: Just experimented w/ Power save mode 2, & it definitely reduces buzz level (by at least 50%). Thanks for the recommendation! For those who do this, do you bump up your contrast/ brightness settings to compensate?

My PRO-150FD is virtually buzz free. I can only hear anything if I put my ear about one foot from the set or less, and even then it is very faint. It is much less, I think, than the buzz with any of the CRT sets ever was.

To the guy on here who advised people not to buy pioneer plasmas because of the buzz, you think that other brands don't buzz? that's slightly ignorant. If you do your research you will find that there is evidence of buzzing in all the other plasma brands. I ordered a Samsung 'fpt5084' first and the buzzing on it was terrible, it was audible even when the volume was turned up. I sent it back and got a panasonic 'th-58pz700u' when the delivery/installation guy flicked the switch the buzzing was bad.
It seems that you have a 30/70 chance of getting a buzzing plasma. All three of mine buzzed but my 'pioneer 5010fd' buzzes the least.

People here have said that their friends have the same TV and it doesn't buzz. Have any of you in this situation taken your TV to your friends house and tried it in the same environment to find out if your set still buzzes? (might be easier if these TVs didn't weigh 100lbs) I'm convinced that there is some kind of electromagnetic interference or something causing the buzzing. I have tried a humbuster (removes DC from the line) and turning off every device and throwing all the switches in the breaker box but the one that the TV is on. It doesn't go away.
The picture on the kuro is so far above the competition that the experience is not totally ruined for me, although it annoys me a hell of a lot.

I answered no because I never heard a buzz from my TV and did not know it was an issue. However, now that I know about it I'll probably start hearing it. Damn the OP to He**

I am at about 200 hours on the new Kero Elite 111FD and there is a random loud buzz. I can hear a slight buzz up close most of the time, but at times it gets very loud. Its high pitched and quite annoying. I can hear it in normal non-action based dialog a lot of the time, and when its really loud I can hear it from 25 to 30 feet away. That seems to be a bit much for normal viewing. But as I said it comes and goes. I had the TV doing the breakin in another run and had buzz there as well.

I am guessing there is no way to fix this issue either. Some sets are just worse than others. Any Advice?

I had a "service" guy come under the warrantee. This was a fruitless venture as he said its "normal" for some buzzing.

What I did learn is that plasma is problematic (any brand) where there is altitude to consider. I am UP in a hill area which evidently, adds to the problem (no joke). The buzzing I get is from the screen itself.

I gather that in a few years, I'll end up with LED LCD which should come pretty close to where Pioneer Kuro is today. ... as I said , in a FEW years.

Holy crap. Not sure if this has been brought up over and over on the thread, just read a few posts on page 1. I saw your tip, changed to Power Mode 2 and I can barely heat anything. Thank you!

So what impact does switching power modes have on overall PQ? I'm willing to sacrifice a little if it means no buzz.

I woud like to know this as well ^^^^

It lowers brightness and power consumption, that's why the buzz diminishes. All plasmas buzz and seemed proportionate to power usage ie it buzz more when full white scene.

That makes sense that brightness is lower. I haven't adjusted any of my display settings other than Power Mode, and not sure I will tweak it. I haven't noticed any change in PQ yet, though I only watched a small bit of TV after switching over to PM2. Just glad to have that buzz gone.

i was switching back and forth a lot and checking, and the brightness never seemed to change...... so i kept it at level 2

I see a diff in bright scenes.

But PQ fantastic either way