Hissing at idle through one amp but not another


So I inherited a wonderful Ayon Crossfire from my uncle and it sounds awesome but I'm having a hissing that must be related to the amp/preamp match but I don't understand why.

With my Lamm preamp and the Ayon with the mute on, the speakers are silent, when I unmute I hear a hiss from the tweeters, just loud enough to hear at the listening position 10 feet away with no music playing and also during quiet passages on very quiet vinyl. It happens equally with any input selected on the Lamm. It's the same level of hiss no matter what the volume is set to. I've swapped the cable from preamp to amp. No change.

And then, when I swap out the Ayon for a vintage Fisher SA-100, there is no hiss anywhere at any time. Completely silent.

This is killing me. What the hell is going on!!!

dhcod

Showing 2 responses by mlsstl

How are you connecting the Lamm preamp -- via the direct in or one of the selectable inputs?  I looked at the specs for the Ayon and they don't say what the input sensitivity is. It could be that it is a mismatch for the Lamm.  If you are using direct in, try switching to one of the selectable inputs and then reduce the volume on the Ayre until the hiss goes away. This will mean that you'll need to turn the volume on the Lamm up higher.

If you are using the selectable inputs on the Ayon, it could mean that the preamp tubes are aging and need to be replaced, or once again, just a mismatch with the Lamm.

@dhcod -- glad you found a solution! One thing about amps and preamps is that there are no universal standards regarding gain and sensitivity. This can make certain combinations of preamps & amps problematic, though the issue can usually be fixed with some experimentation.