quiet hiss in backround?

My system is dead quiet even when I press my ear to the speaker. I personally couldn't live with any noise at all. I did recently have an issue on an amp I bought and the manufacturer explained the difference between a hiss and a hum. He said a hum usually comes from a ground loop issue which is easy to diagnose by lifting the ground using a 3 to 2 adapter plug from the hardware store. He said a hiss is usually a gain issue from the amplifier and can often be user adjusted. If the amplifier gain is set very high it may hiss audibly. In the end my problem was an errant single ended/balanced switch at the amp input.

No I can't say it's a gain issue definitively but it might be. Gain may be adjustable internally which is the case with mine. Call Krell and ask them if they have any insight and if the gain is adjustable and try it.

I would be asking myself a few additional questions: Has it always done this? Did my old equipment hiss? When did I first notice it? Did anything change that might have caused it? Is it definitely the amp (i.e. turn everything else off, try different cables, single ended, balanced, speakers, etc.- borrow them from a store or a friend)? If it is definitely the amp and it's not affected by cables or speakers then I'd be talking to Krell.

If that is the case another amp may be in the cards for you.

You bet. One final note I don't think you have to spend more and may not even have to change from Krell. Contact them I bet they'll be able to help. If not there are other manufacturers out there that may solve your issue w/o increasing your costs or compromising quality.

BTW I agree with your SACD comments. A good SACD can be incredible.

Me too. However there are probably 1-2 hiss/hum questions a day so maybe everyone is burnt out. You could try re-posting with a more grabbing title. Put Krell in the question and pose the title as a challenge. Like "My Krell hisses, help diagnose & suggest silent comparable amps". That will get a big group of people reading it.

It's easier to hate than love. Anything SS will immediately garner haters from tube lovers, and Krell seems to embody everything they hate about SS. I think that's because it is so SS. Krell just doesn't make any effort to take the edge off and appeal to people in the middle like Ayre, Rowland, Levinson. etc. They simply don't care and instead are intent on exploring what SS can do and do well.

Wilson garners hate because they are expensive, well known, popular, and specifically engineered to sound good at the expense of what some people feel is a sacrifice in realism. Did you ever hear anyone in High school refer to the hottest girl like this: "She's hot, but .....". That's because they're jealous and they know she won't go out with them, so they make themselves feel better by bringing her down.

For me I see the merits of it all. Tubes and SS both do different things well. It doesn't mean one has to be better than the other. Speakers are the same. Wilsons do sound good. So do others and they're all different.

I bought a high quality dolly, and some furniture dollies so I don't have to pick stuff up. That way I can keep trying different things though I do admit to leaning to smaller pieces when given the opportunity. I don't want to find that forever piece because I'm having too much fun. I do admit to being slightly jealous when I find someone who has. :)

I can understand your reluctance. It is a pain. The Salons are great. I also think you should have a quiet amp. That kind of thing drives me nuts!

As for limited retail outlets I've all but quit looking at stuff in stores anyway. You lose 50% from retail to used so just buy used smartly, try it for a while, and move it on. It's funny but I wish I'd had $100,000 (or more for that matter) in used audio gear in 2008. Then it wouldn't have lost 40% of it value.

BTW if you ever want a non biased opinion on something you're thinking of trying feel free to email. I've not heard as much as some, but I have heard a lot.

Well for starters I think 2 channel is the place to focus your attention if you are looking for great music reproduction. I keep my 2 channel and home theater separate. For HT I have a nice system comprised of Denon and B&W for home theater. Probably totaling about the cost of just your center channel speaker.

The WP7's are terrific speakers. If you like the Wilson sound then there's no need to change that but I know you are tempted by Revel. The Salon 2's would be a stright across move for you cost wise. Since I know you like the Krell sound I think you'll like the Salons better than the WP7's. More refined and detailed, less balance and overall smoothness.

As for combination if you keep the WP7's, which is what I recommend, I definitely think you should consider other options. The Krell is not the first amp I'd suggest for WP7's. The nice thing is the WP7's work well with lots of components. I figure your Krell is worth $5000-$6000 or so used.

I personally think the WP7's would mate the best with tubes. Lamm is supposed to be an out of this world match, and I suspect BAT would be great too. There is an interesting snippet from the latest CES about a BAT VK55se amp and WP8's that Dave Wilson thought was as good as anything else he's heard http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2009/ . I also think Wilson uses Audio Research to voice their speakers so that's an obvious choice. Depending on the $ you spent you could get a Wilson sub or keep the Thiel to augment any drop off in bass response you suffer.

Figuring you prefer SS over tubes the WP7's just don't need that big burly amplifier you've got. In fact I suspect you're over-driving them. Pass would be my best suggestion. You could get a 250.5 for less $, 350.5 for the same, or a 600.5 monos for $9-$10k or so. As for Rowland I prefer the 300 series stuff. The 201 monos and 501 monos are good and rediculously small but can seem a bit dry. I'd look for a 312 or 302 but they'll both run $8000-$9500. They won't break your back though. Mine is like 65 lbs.

Also there is another member Dave_b: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr_memb.pl?vevol&1169177163&memb&zzDave_b that is a frequent forum contributor. He has a Krell 400 amp and Sophias. He might be a good person to search out to ask about your background hiss.

I contacted a close friend who used to have the WP7's (I've only listened to WP8's in person). He said the Audio Research Ref 210 was head and shoulders the best combination he ever found for his WP7's. And he is someone who has literally tried everything.

I know the feeling.

Sorry about that!

Audio Research 110 would be a great match and unbeatable at the $'s.

Yes I do think the Krell is a terrible match. Krell would be great with Revels, not Wilson.

Go for it! You won't be dissapointed.

On those speakers they'll do more than the Krell. They won't be as highly resolving as you're used to. That is what Krell does well. Soundstage should be just as good if not better.

Tubes last a while but if you leave the amp on all the time they'll wear out. You'll probably want an amp that is self biasing which means balance the voltage at the tubes and some track use time. Every once in a while a tube will go out so you might want a good tube tester and a few extras around. I would guess every other year you'll need to change them all out which is nothing more than screwing out the old ones and screwing in the new ones. Yes they require more work than SS but it's not a lot.

Thanks for the correction Macrojack. I'm SS these days.

The idea is it's fairly simple. Perhaps you could comment on your experiences?