How much noise is acceptable when no music is playing?

[Mouse]

At volume 75 it's quiet, but still audible at the listener position.

[ylee]

Originally Posted by Mouse

Mine is with the preamp off, so I wasn't cranking it to 100%.
At 100% with my amp and preamp on which is 94.5 or something, I heard noise still 30 ft away, and it's still audible down the hall.

Ok, wow. That's a bit high. I have a pair of Niagara 1000 noise reducing/power conditioning power strips along with WW Platinum Electra PCs which I've verified for myself as reducing noise significantly connected to my amp and preamp. As they say, your mileage may vary but you may benefit significantly with strategic addition of noise reducing conditioners and cords.

I plan next year on further upgrading my power conditioning gear. It's not just hiss that's reduced, but also harshness.

[Mouse]

If I'm filtering the power with a Panamax, and swapping around my one Shunyata power cord to see where it makes a difference, what else is left to check?

[ylee]

Originally Posted by Mouse

If I'm filtering the power with a Panamax, and swapping around my one Shunyata power cord to see where it makes a difference, what else is left to check?

From my experience I'd put the Shunyata on the preamp. BTW, which Shunyata PC do you have?

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by ylee

From my experience I'd put the Shunyata on the preamp. BTW, which Shunyata PC do you have?

It's on the preamp now. Delta NR. I wasn't expecting it to do much since the power was filtered, I was hoping the cable had better shielding, but perhaps the problem is originating from something else. I'm out of ideas. I bought RCA and XLR caps from ebay just in case, wishful thinking.

[Msegal]

It is likely a grounding issue on the amp. Try floating the ground on the ampto see if this helps. You can get cheaters are any hardware store.
I found that a dedicated 20 amp run to the fuse box is the best way to eliminate these ground loops.
I am not sure if expensive/heroic power conditioning will alleviate your problem.

Good luck.

[Cohibaman]

Is there still noise with no input cables connected to the amp?

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by Msegal

It is likely a grounding issue on the amp. Try floating the ground on the ampto see if this helps. You can get cheaters are any hardware store.
I found that a dedicated 20 amp run to the fuse box is the best way to eliminate these ground loops.
I am not sure if expensive/heroic power conditioning will alleviate your problem.

Good luck.

Good idea. Ironically my electrician is here today to run a 20 amp line with oversize gauge copper to my entertainment salamander AV cabinet. He's also adding a new ground to my subpanel. I have a 20 amp line for that whole area but with new subs in my plans I thought it would be too much for the breaker and sound quality. Perhaps I'll find out today.

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

Is there still noise with no input cables connected to the amp?

Yes, but the noise coming from the speaker is similar with the PREamp turned off, or the amp input cables removed. Not too bad, audible at 3 ft.

It's when the volume is up on the preamp does noise get fairly loud.

[CGabriel]

Originally Posted by Mouse

How much noise is acceptable from your Mc amps when no music is playing?
If I leave my Mc setup on I get a quiet hiss, I'm not too sure how to get rid of it. My power is filtered, I swapped the stock power cable for a shunyata which made no change to this quiet hiss; if I turn the preamp off it's slightly better, but leaving the amp on alone still has a light hiss coming from the tweeter.

It's not bad, I'm just wanting to reduce the noise floor of my room.

You said that you can hear a hiss from 3 away from the speakers with the preamp turned off. Correct? And you said that you can hear a hiss at 30 feet away with the volume control set to 60 and that you normally will only listen at a maximum position of 60. Correct?

Of course, the devil is always in the details and in this case it is in the context. But in general I would say that audible hiss from 3 feet away, using a solid-state amplifier is not exactly normal and hiss from 30 feet away at any volume setting is definitely not normal.

My first suggestion would be to consult with your dealer about this and have him evaluate the situation.

There are many contextual things that would need to be considered to find the solution. Here are just a few: What speaker are you using and what is it's efficiency rating? Are you using RCA or XLR type interconnects? What brand of interconnects are you using and are they well shielded? How old is the amplifier? Has this hiss always been present since the first installation? If you completely disconnect the interconnects from the amplifier - does the amount of hiss change? Is there any low frequency hum associated with the noise or is it 'just' a high frequency random noise hiss that you hear?