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Fuzzy white noise sound coming from tweeter?

Hi everyone, I just bought a floor demo model of the B&W 702 S2 paired with a demo model of the Rotel RA-1592 integrated amplifier and connected with Rocket 11 speaker cables. I noticed there is a quiet static or white noise sound coming from the tweeter on both speakers. It does not seem to increase in volume when I turn the volume up and I cannot hear it much from where I sit, but it is very pronounced when I put my ear up to the tweeter while playing a song. The noise is also there when I pause the song and apparently anytime the amplifier is on. The speakers are not bi-wired. I was told that maybe this could be caused by intereference with power cords but I moved all the wires away from eachother and the problem still persists. I have also tried playing movies from a bluray player via optical cord and that is also having the same issue. Could this have anyting to do with the break-in period? It is not overwhelmingly noticable from where I sit but I think it is slightly masking the clarity of the high frequencies. I would try to isolate the issue using other speakers/amplifiers/cables but I do not have any others to subsitute in. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!
km1181
b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,274 posts
 
OP, isolate the problem.  Try different speakers on the amp.  Is the hiss still there?  If so, try a different amp on the B&W’s...

if you don’t have any other equipment to utilize, borrow some from the dealer where you purchase the gear.

If you cant do that, move the amp and speakers to a different electrical outlet.  Only plug in a source.  Still hearing the hiss?

Quite a few systems have that hiss.  Usually it gets louder though as you increase the volume knob, even with no music playing.  Some metal domes that are very detailed and revealing will play that hiss noise louder than some silk domes.

That hiss comes from the amp though, not the speakers.  Different speakers however may accentuate the hiss more simply because it is s brighter, more detailed speaker.

Im sure someone whose more knowledgeable will chime in and correct me or add to.

I’ve looked at that hiss as part of how low your noise floor is, ie how black the background is.  When there is no hiss and a system can retrieve micro detail really well, you have a very dark canvas from which the music comes from, if that makes sense...
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 


Well first of all you have to isolate the fault to either the amp or speakers so therefor do you have a friend who can loan you and amp so you would be able to hook up the speaker to and see if the hiss still comes through.
He has "it doesn’t go up or down with volume" that means it’s the poweramp section of the Rotel that is noisy on both channels, needs to be looked at, tweeters are fine.
With these figure it should be quiet
S/N RATIO (IHF "A" Weighted)
Line Level Inputs: 103dB Digital Inputs: 102dB

Cheers George
km1181 OP
4 posts
 
Thank you everyone for your responses, I will try out some of the suggestions. Also to clarify, it is difficult to tell if I can hear it or not from where I sit (9 feet away from speakers) it is mostly just when I put my ear close to the tweeter. It probably does not have a significant impact on the sound, I just want to address this if there is a defect in my system. Thanks!
edgewound
259 posts
 
You'll most likely hear some hiss from any amp at idle with your ear against it. 
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