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 3 responses by erik_squires

OP:

 

Well, I don't mean to suggest any cable brand is particularly good or bad, I was just wondering if you'd made a change that could account for it.

Right now it looks like you have to go up the food chain, but keep en eye out for any wall warts.  They still generate noise even when the load is off.

Assuming it's NOT your equipment, did you replace interconnects in that period of time? If you went from unshielded to shielded that would explain general noise pick-up but weird if it's hiss specifically.

So, for the LED thing, dimmable LED lightbulbs seem to be OK but some LED strips and power supplies are not. If your LED lights have a wall wart, that may very well be a cause.

Another potential issue is if you've moved or introduced a Wifi router or device around your stereo recently. 

One experiment you might find is to literally turn off everything else in the house from the panel. 

If turning all of that off does not improve your issue then it's definitely in your audio chain.