OCD hiss situation

[Barry_Sound]

Im getting a very tiny amount of hiss when I put my ear right up to the tweeters, no matter the volume of the amp, no matter what source is selected. Interestingly it goes dead silent when I unplug one of the speaker cables (left or right).

It´s not audible from a typical listening point but my OCD wants the speakers to be totally off when no music is playing.

Any idea? Thanks guys

 

[Galliardist]

Well, first of all we'll have to guess what your equipment is....

 

[Barry_Sound]

Got you, sorry. It´s a full size class A/B amp with passive speakers. Only a DAC connected at this point, no phono, nothing exotic.

 

[Sokel]

Got you, sorry. It´s a full size class A/B amp with passive speakers. Only a DAC connected at this point, no phono, nothing exotic.

Again,we have to guess your speakers sensitivity,your amp's noise and gain,etc.
You have to be more specific.

 

[Barry_Sound]

Thanks, I dug up the specs …

Speakers Wharfedale Elysian 1

Amplifier Quadral Aurum A9

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Thanks, I dug up the specs …

Speakers

Amplifier

… and the type and make? So we potentially would find independently measured performance and wouldn’t have to rely on the specs only?

Plus the DAC?

 

[Barry_Sound]

… and the type and make? So we potentially would find independently measured performance and wouldn’t have to rely on the specs only?

Plus the DAC?

Added the brands and names, maybe it helps? The DAC is unrelated. I can unplug the DAC and its still there.

 

[sq225917]

Ac across the speaker - neg posts on the chassis

 

[staticV3]

Amplifier Quadral Aurum A9

According to those specs, the Aurum A9 is a very noisy Amp with ~4mVrms of A-wt noise (20Hz to 20kHz BW).

For reference, modern Cass A/B or Class D designs from Benchmark, Purifi, Neurochrome, Hypex, Topping, etc. tend to have about 10μVrms of A-wt noise.

That translates to 50dB less noise, or about 3% of the audible hiss of the Aurum A9.

 

[unpluggged]

According to those specs, the Aurum A9 is a very noisy Amp with ~4mVrms of A-wt noise (20Hz to 20kHz BW).

45 dB of gain do not make things easy...

 

[Barry_Sound]

Ac across the speaker - neg posts on the chassis

Possible. Does this fit in with that the hiss disappears when one speaker cable is removed?

 

[staticV3]

Possible. Does this fit in with that the hiss disappears when one speaker cable is removed?

Could you perhaps elaborate on that?

Do you mean that if you disconnect one cable from one speaker, let's say the negative cable of the left speaker from the Amp, then the left speaker stops hissing?

Or do you mean that if you disconnect one of the four speaker cables connected to the Aurum A9, then both speakers stop hissing?

 

[HarmonicTHD]

If you take the very high 4mVrms noise, which staticV3 has derived from your amps spec, convert it into watts and plug it into a SPL calculator, yes you will indeed get audible noise at that distance. Sorry to say, your amp is simply too noisy. Modern amps, such as mentioned above, are dead quiet. (Not that it matters for acutal listening, but since you asked).

 

[Barry_Sound]

Do you mean that if you disconnect one cable from one speaker, let's say the negative cable of the left speaker from the Amp, then the left speaker stops hissing?

Exactly!

 

[staticV3]

Exactly!

Naturally, by disconnecting one cable, the circuit is interrupted and current can no longer flow.

Where there's no current, the speaker membrane cannot move and therefore cannot produce noise or hiss.

 

[Barry_Sound]

Naturally, by disconnecting one cable, the circuit is interrupted and current can no longer flow.

Where there's no current, the speaker membrane cannot move and therefore cannot produce noise or hiss.

True, I´m leaning towards the "amp is noisy by design" explanation then. So no easy fix except of getting something different...

 

[HarmonicTHD]

True, I´m leaning towards the "amp is noisy by design" explanation then. So no easy fix except of getting something different...

Yes. Sorry.

Just to give you a perspective ... and it is just one option of many .... modern, well engineered and performing electronics dont have to be expensive.

For example at ca. 700EUR, this was tested here recently (and of course there are others, but we would need to know, what inputs other than DAC you need etc.).

Audiophonics DA-S250NC DAC & Power Amp Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audiophonics DA-S250NC class D amplifier (hypex NC252MP) and stereo DAC/Bluetooth. It was requested by a member and supplied by the company. It costs 582,50 € (tax excluded) (US$641). I really like the front panel display. It has large font and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

It has ca. 110db Signal to Noise Ratio, which is 56 times less noise and when you deduct the ca. 35dB from the 52dB SPL above you will get ca. 17dB SPL, which can be considered very quiet (Keep in mind a quiet room has ca. 30dB SPL on noise already). It has ca. 200W output and and a good DAC included. So if you were to sell your existing equipment, you would probably have money left to spend elsewhere.

 

[Ruhled]

If you can only hear it with your ear right up to the tweeter I don't think there's much benefit in "upgrading" but to each their own. Keep in mind no amplifier is 100 percent silent. The noise is there even if you can't hear it.

 

[sergeauckland]

If you can only hear it with your ear right up to the tweeter I don't think there's much benefit in "upgrading" but to each their own. Keep in mind no amplifier is 100 percent silent. The noise is there even if you can't hear it.

I actually like a small amount of noise as long as it's only audible close to the 'speakers, as it helps to confirm the amp is working.

S

 

[ta240]

I actually like a small amount of noise as long as it's only audible close to the 'speakers, as it helps to confirm the amp is working.

S

Usually the music coming out of the speaker does that for me....