MEN 220 creating hiss

[KaliKid2013]

Hello,
About a month ago, I added a new men220 into my system.

Ever since I did so, it seems to be creating a slight hiss. So today I had the time to try to troubleshoot it, I did everything I could possibly think of, and it is still there, without the men220 my system is silent.

I have the outputs from the c500 preamp going in to the inputs on the men220, and I have the outputs on the men220 going to the inputs of my monoblocks.

I swapped out all of the XLR cables, and the power cable.

I added a 3-prong to 2 prong adapter when plugging it into the MPC 500 power controller.

I tried the low and high balanced outputs on the men220. The unit is correctly set to balanced outputs.

I unplugged the power cord from the MEN 220 going to the MPC 500 power controller, and plugged it directly into my dedicated 20 amp outlet, both with the three prong to 2 prong adapter, and without.

I changed the placement of the men220.

I turned off every single breaker in the house except the dedicated 20 amp circuit for my system, I turned off everything the refrigerator the stove everything in the house was turned off. So there was no other electronic devices running in the entire house except my system.

At this point I am out of ideas, I was going to call Chuck Hinton at McIntosh Monday, but figured I would see if anyone here with the men220, or any other Macintosh devices, maybe had a similar problem, and if and how it was resolved.

Thank you for any assistance.

[Grasshopper]

I had a strange sound with my MEN220 when I’d start up.

It wasn’t a “hiss” but a strange feedback sound that went from low to high, then “pop”.

It sounded like a capacitor issue. I sent mine to audio classics who thought it was a bad capacitor. McIntosh wanted to change out the motherboard, so AC ended up replacing my MEN220 under warranty.

I’d call McIntosh for sure.

[KaliKid2013]

Mine is a very very slight hiss, you really have to put your ear up to the midrange driver and Tweeter to hear it.

I spoke to Chuck Hinton at McIntosh who told me the unit must have raised the noise floor in my system, because he said it is definitely not the unit, based on my description of it being a hiss.

I guess I can call Audio Classics and see what their take on it is, but I haven't had good luck dealing with them in the past.

[Beowulf62]

The hiss is only audible when you have your ear right at the midrange/tweeter...so it has no audible effect when listening to music? Still, I can understand your concern to track down the source of the hiss. Does it disappear when you bypass the men220? If yes, then it may have to do with the equalization circuitry.


You could try connecting the men220 in the processor loop on your c500 rather than directly between the c500 and your monoblocks.

[KaliKid2013]

Hi, yes if I take the MEN220 out of the system it disappears. I don't know how to do it as a loop in the c500, I'll have to check the manual for the c500 online and see if it says how to do it. Thanks for the reply

[Beowulf62]

Originally Posted by KaliKid2013

Hi, yes if I take the MEN220 out of the system it disappears. I don't know how to do it as a loop in the c500, I'll have to check the manual for the c500 online and see if it says how to do it. Thanks for the reply

By "take the men220 out", do you mean pushing the bypass button or removing the unit from the system? I was suggesting you simply use the bypass feature to see if the equalization was introducing the hiss...but perhaps you've already determined that it's the presence of the men220 bypassed or not.


The C500 has a listen (and a record) processor loop that would be used to connect the Men220. Then setup is used to activate that loop for any desired input.

[KaliKid2013]

Hi, no I don't just mean bypass the 220, when I bypassed it, the hiss is still there, I mean when I disconnect the unit and take it completely out of the system the system is silent.

[Beowulf62]

Originally Posted by KaliKid2013

Hi, no I don't just mean bypass the 220, when I bypassed it, the hiss is still there, I mean when I disconnect the unit and take it completely out of the system the system is silent.

That being the case, my only other suggestion is as mentioned above, trying the processor loop.

[PeterMusic]

Originally Posted by KaliKid2013

I spoke to Chuck Hinton at McIntosh who told me the unit must have raised the noise floor in my system, because he said it is definitely not the unit, based on my description of it being a hiss.

I do not understand. How can it raise the noise floor and not be the unit itself? Thoughts from others on this statement? Thx

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by KaliKid2013

I spoke to Chuck Hinton at McIntosh who told me the unit must have raised the noise floor in my system, because he said it is definitely not the unit, based on my description of it being a hiss.

Sorry, that is a contradiction and makes no sense to me.