2. amps-preamps
  3. 183915-158670

Help with hiss

Hello Friends,

My speakers have developed an audible hiss that I am trying to chase down. The hiss can be heard from across the room and while music is being played. Sometimes, the hiss is pulsating and sometimes constant. It occurs at all hours, perhaps less so in the early morning. Sometimes there is no hiss at all and everything is silent. It is an intermittent issue that is unpredictable.

My speakers are powered by mono block amplifiers. Both speakers exhibit the exact same behavior. The monos are plugged directly into the wall outlet. I also plugged them into a PS Audio AV Power Center with no relief. I changed power cords with no relief. No other piece of gear is on, although all are plugged in and some are in standby. I turned one mono off of course stopping the hiss in that speaker. The other continued to hiss. In reverse, same result.

This is not a “hum” (like from a ground loop). It is the same hiss that you can hear with your ear next to the tweeter but much louder.

I’m happy to answer any questions at all to help me resolve this. Thank you in advance.

 

forestg

Showing 1 response by audiojan

audiojan's avatar
audiojan
390 posts
 

A couple of things to try.. first, re-route all cables making sure that the low level cables (interconnects) are at 90deg to any power cable they need to cross. Make sure speaker cables are kept away from power cables.

 

If that doesn't help, turn everything off, disconnect any interconnect to the mono blocks and then turn them on. If you still hear the hiss, then it's from the amps. If you don't, then connect the interconnects but do not turn on the preamp. If hiss, then it's the connection (interconnects or the input of the amp). If no hiss, then connect the preamp (test first without it on and then with it on). And so on, work your way backwards until you identify the source.

I went through this exercise only to find that if I plugged in my integrated amp to a different outlet on my PS Audio PowerPlant, any and all hiss went away.

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