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Tweeter hiss?

Hi, I'm new to the world of hi-fi and audiogon and was hoping someone out there could help me.

When I have my amp turned on (an integrated) with the speakers connected, but not the CD player, I hear a hiss coming from the tweeters of both speakers. This is with the volume completely turned down. Is this normal? If I turn the volume up the noise increases. It's not very loud by any means - I need to be within a foot of the speaker to notice it. Is there something wrong with my amp or speakers? If music is playing then the hiss is covered by music. I am also unhappy with my systems general "brightness" and fatigue factor and I wonder if this is related to my hiss-tweeter problem.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
(Rotel integrated, B&W 601s3, audioquest cable)
tooter
bundee1
147 posts
 
It could be an electrical problem. Try switching outlets. As for the brightness, how new is your system? Maybe your speakers need breaking in. I dont know how much the brightness is going fade because those components have a bright sonic signature. Another suggestion would be to switch interconnects and speaker cables. Good luck.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
This is not a "bright" system. Give it some time to break in (100 hours?). Is the hiss worse with the cd disconnected or just turned off? What kind of CD player? This should be a quiet system. Play with cable routing so they don't touch if possible.
tidybear
34 posts
 
hello, in gerneral, it may come from interconnect cable,, you may try to seperate with each other, beside,, i am not sure that your amp has treble adjustment..you may adjusted it too high ..it often introduces un natual hiss..
mike
tooter OP
85 posts
 
Thanks for the responses.

I don't think it's an electrical problem. I tried plugging into different outlets, same results. Also whether the CD player (also Rotel) was on or not (and disconnected) had no effect. As for the cables, they are in close proximity but none are touching eachother.

As for the brightness the speakers are relatively new, my guess would be less than 100 hours. Is there a "proper" way of breaking them in? Basically I just listen to music and try to avoid really loud levels.

I'm not sure if this is a factor but the speaker wire is unterminated at the speaker end. It's bare and I just pushed it through the hole in the binding post (not the banana plug hole) and tightened the nut. Could this be an issue?

Thanks.
jsawhitlock
302 posts
 
I think your problem is most likely a componet issue.
You may consider changing out the rotel. If this is only a music system you may want to try seperates if it's in the budget to do so. Next I would work on IC, speaker wire and power cords. I think there is no quick or cheap fix for your brightness problem and buying new IC or speaker wire with the rotel will only get you minor improvements. It sounds like you may be out growing the current set up and it's time to move up a notch, your getting more educated in good sound so take the plunge and go for the componet upgrade. Sorry for slamming the rotel but for entry level mid fi it's a ok start into this hobbie but it's time to move on to better sound! Hope I was not to brutle! Happy Hunting
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