Powered speakers self noise

[gino1961]

Hi to Everyone
I am thinking to pass to powered speakers
I am reading that many are plagued by some noise even without input signal i.e. With inputs shorted and speaker gain to max
Strangely no owner reports this issue
Is it a false issue or what?
Thanks a lot and have a nice day
Gino

 

[DVDdoug]

I am reading that many are plagued by some noise even without input signal i.e. With inputs shorted and speaker gain to max

All active analog electronics generate some noise and any gain amplifies it. Often the "gain" pot on the speaker/monitor is an attenuator on the input so the setting doesn't affect noise generated internally by the amplifier.

Overall, preamps (mic preamps and phono preamps) tend to be the most problematic because you have a weak signal and lots of gain and that makes it difficult to get a good signal-to-noise ratio.

Strangely no owner reports this issue

I've read some complaints, probably with "near field monitoring" in a quiet studio but I don't remember the details.

Is it a false issue or what?

It's not always audible.

 

[gino1961]

All active analog electronics generate some noise and any gain amplifies it. Often the "gain" pot on the speaker/monitor is an attenuator on the input so the setting doesn't affect noise generated internally by the amplifier.
Overall, preamps (mic preamps and phono preamps) tend to be the most problematic because you have a weak signal and lots of gain and that makes it difficult to get a good signal-to-noise ratio.
I've read some complaints, probably with "near field monitoring" in a quiet studio but I don't remember the details.
It's not always audible.

HI thank you for the very kind and valuable advice
Then the only way is to power them up and listen closely
Noise like high distortion is very annoying
They should specify the level of self noise with inputs shorted Imho
Just to get an idea about how quiet the speaker is

 

[Sonny1]

The new Kali speakers are very quiet, the LP6 for example. Noise is no longer an issue. I did t think the first generation was bad but they improved it and it is nearly dead silent. My son has a pair of the little Adam speakers that he uses for music listening and mixing and they are super quiet. I’m still amazed at how loud and clean these Adam speakers play.

He’s looking for some cheap, bright speakers to use for mixing because music he mixes on the Adam speakers don’t always sound good on headphones. It’s funny because I thought transparent or balanced sounding speakers would be good for mixing but some people find value in using bright speakers for mixing. The Adam’s sound surprisingly good on playback of any type of music.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Hi to Everyone
I am thinking to pass to powered speakers
I am reading that many are plagued by some noise even without input signal i.e. With inputs shorted and speaker gain to max
Strangely no owner reports this issue
Is it a false issue or what?
Thanks a lot and have a nice day
Gino

I can share some subjective experience. When I bought mine I had both one of the small Genelecs and the KH80s at home. As both sound and measure very well one of the deciding factor for me was that when the Genelecs were idle and not playing music they would emanate a faint hiss which for me was disturbing sitting at my desk at about max 1m away trying to do some quiet work. Of course one can turn it off because when listening to music one can’t hear that hiss. I went with the KH80 and as the KH150 have the same technology I presume and are a newer design that should not have that hiss.

 

[gino1961]

The new Kali speakers are very quiet, the LP6 for example. Noise is no longer an issue. I did t think the first generation was bad but they improved it and it is nearly dead silent. My son has a pair of the little Adam speakers that he uses for music listening and mixing and they are super quiet. I’m still amazed at how loud and clean these Adam speakers play.

He’s looking for some cheap, bright speakers to use for mixing because music he mixes on the Adam speakers don’t always sound good on headphones. It’s funny because I thought transparent or balanced sounding speakers would be good for mixing but some people find value in using bright speakers for mixing. The Adam’s sound surprisingly good on playback of any type of music.

HI thank you for the very valuable information
I was thinking that some sort of noise is quite common in powered speaker
I like very low noise with every component on If i get buz or hiss i worry
I will try before buying

 

[Digby]

In a very quiet room, almost all active speakers make some noise from 1m. It may be low noise, but in a very quiet situation you should be able to hear the difference between them on or off.

 

[gino1961]

I can share some subjective experience. When I bought mine I had both one of the small Genelecs and the KH80s at home. As both sound and measure very well one of the deciding factor for me was that when the Genelecs were idle and not playing music they would emanate a faint hiss which for me was disturbing sitting at my desk at about max 1m away trying to do some quiet work. Of course one can turn it off because when listening to music one can’t hear that hiss. I went with the KH80 and as the KH150 have the same technology I presume and are a newer design that should not have that hiss.

Hi thank you for very much for your kind reply and very helpful
With passive speakers and balanced equipment i get a decent absence of noise that i like
I listen from about 8 feet from the speakers so never very close
Nevertheless some noise can be unnerving really
I wonder why this can happen with monitor speakers They should check at the prototype phase
The less the noise the better always It's impressive how much detail can be heard with a very low noise system

 

[Carlton80@0]

I will not tolerate any type or buzz in my systems. The noise is usually related to mismatch of components or poorly designed components. Neither of these should have a place in a properly designed system. I have some active DSP speakers by Meridian and they are dead silent when idle or when producing sound.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Hi thank you for very much for your kind reply and very helpful
With passive speakers and balanced equipment i get a decent absence of noise that i like
I listen from about 8 feet from the speakers so never very close
Nevertheless some noise can be unnerving really
I wonder why this can happen with monitor speakers They should check at the prototype phase
The less the noise the better always It's impressive how much detail can be heard with a very low noise system

As I said. It is not audible when further away let alone when playing music. The hiss stems probably from the somewhat older amps in those small Genelecs. The Neumann are a newer design and now use state of the art amps - but I am guessing a bit here.

I would not be surprised if Genelec in its next product revision will also switch to newer amps as those are readily and cheaply available (sure as long as there isn’t a major supply crisis of electronics as during Corona)

 

[NiagaraPete]

Hi to Everyone
I am thinking to pass to powered speakers
I am reading that many are plagued by some noise even without input signal i.e. With inputs shorted and speaker gain to max
Strangely no owner reports this issue
Is it a false issue or what?
Thanks a lot and have a nice day
Gino

I bought a pair of Kali LP8’s and found the noise awful. The newer version apparently has fixed that. I also owned Genelec 8050b’s which were silent as are my G5’s. There are posts about other models that do have a slight hiss.

 

[gino1961]

i thank you All very much for your kind and very valuable advice
i will listen for sure before buying
my guess is that the problem should be very rare with expensive monitors intended for pros
but it could be much less rare with cheaper products
i will go to listen carrying a xlr shorting plug with me
the test will be very quick and telling

 

[NiagaraPete]

i thank you All very much for your kind and very valuable advice
i will listen for sure before buying
my guess is that the problem should be very rare with expensive monitors intended for pros
but it could be much less rare with cheaper products
i will go to listen carrying a xlr shorting plug with me
the test will be very quick and telling

That’s not so easy in a retail store. Most better brands supply a spec, here’s Genelec’s on the 8050.

Self-generated noise​

Self-generated noise
≤5 dB SPL

Self generated noise level in free field on axis (A-weighted).

 

[gino1961]

That’s not so easy in a retail store. Most better brands supply a spec, here’s Genelec’s on the 8050.

Self-generated noise​

Self-generated noise
≤5 dB SPL

Self generated noise level in free field on axis (A-weighted).

HI thank you for the very valuable advice
I wonder why very few and serious brand provide this information in the dstasheet
As i was told especially for near field listening it is not a secondary issue
And especially in a recording studio
I always believe that the secret of a satisfying listening is in low noise and low distortion I like clean sounds not effects
They don't state the distance but it is already something