Studio monitor speakers without hiss?

[Richard Berg]

Without getting out my dB meter, I'd say -10 to 0 is 2.5X as loud, and 0 to +4 is less than half as much change.

 

[EB1000]

Anything based on class-D amplification will meet your demands.

 

[sweetsounds]

I installed the Genelec 8320A (+ a 7360) in 80cm listening distance on my desk and since the GLM calibration am quite happy with them.
There is an audible hiss noise coming from the tweeters, which is not white, but annoyingly modulated. Source could be EMI from monitors or other electronics. GSM phone buzz was audible, too.

Noise was same with and without XLR cable connected (standard XLR cables used).

Ordinary ferrite beads/clamps on the power cord and the XLR wire reduced the hiss by >80%. Not sure, if it also changed the sound signature in the highs a little, but I prefer the silence.

I suspect, that there is radiation coming in through the XLR connector and influencing the Class-D amps.

 

[txbdan]

My Genelec 8030Cs have a slight hiss. I can hear it if my ears are within about 3-4" of the tweeter. Same with or without cabling. Beyond that its inaudible to me. I also run then with the sensitivity to +6 which is the least gain/sensitive setting.

 

[brop]

Bought some Kali LP6 and they have terrible hiss. Can hear them over 4m away outside the room. That's unplugged. They're going straight back.
It's a shame because other than the hiss they sound great.

 

[restorer-john]

Bought some Kali LP6 and they have terrible hiss. Can hear them over 4m away outside the room. That's unplugged. They're going straight back.
It's a shame because other than the hiss they sound great.

Audible hiss is not high fidelity. Never was, never will be.

Send them back and tell them why.

 

[usern]

Bought some Kali LP6 and they have terrible hiss. Can hear them over 4m away outside the room. That's unplugged. They're going straight back.
It's a shame because other than the hiss they sound great.

Doesn't this model have full range volume control with what you can turn down the output and also hiss?

 

[restorer-john]

Doesn't this model have full range volume control with what you can turn down the output and also hiss?

I guess he could turn them off too to reduce the hiss.

HiFi gear is rated and tested for S/N and residual noise with the gain controls wide open. Standard procedure. If the hiss is unbearable, the gear is faulty (or poorly deigned/engineered).

No excuses for residual noise. None.

 

[brop]

Doesn't this model have full range volume control with what you can turn down the output and also hiss?

They do but it makes no difference to the hiss.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

HiFi gear is rated and tested for S/N and residual noise with the gain controls wide open. Standard procedure. If the hiss is unbearable, the gear is faulty (or poorly deigned/engineered).

Agreed! Kali doesn’t even offer a S/N spec. That should be a red flag right there...

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...o-Lone-Pines-LP6-and-LP8-Full-Specs-Sheet.pdf

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Music1969]

No excuses for residual noise. None.

The bizzare thing is the worst offenders are the pro audio active monitors which are mostly designed to be nearfield when working.

Are these mixing engineers deaf?? How can they accept this.

Compare that to a "hi-fi" active monitor like KEF LS50W2 - no hiss.

 

[HerbertWest]

1. My old K&H O300D and the Genelec 8020 are dead silent. Same should be true for Neumann. My wifes JBL LSR2325 suffer from ps induced 50Hz hum. Some cheap KRKs a colleague bought for his e-piano were also noisy.
2. I don't know one.

+1. Neumann KH310 are dead silent too. I have to put my ears 1-2 inches from the tweeter to hear a very faint hiss.

 

[stevenswall]

Bought some Kali LP6 and they have terrible hiss. Can hear them over 4m away outside the room. That's unplugged. They're going straight back.
It's a shame because other than the hiss they sound great.

Kali has improved this with the IN-5, which I'd recommend saving for if you're in the market.

I originally complained about hiss in the Kali IN-8 and made a youtube video about it. I can confirm Kali is listening to feedback, and in some cases they get mixed messages and have to choose one direction or another.

Talking with their marketing director on the phone and via email, everything from the IN-8 and prior has some hiss because people working in studios valued high output and low distortion more than some audible hiss, so Kali went with that.

Now with the IN-5, they have been able to do something about the hiss complaints and have also boosted the input gain a few decibels while GREATLY reduced the hiss. I can comfortably use these nearfield now, and to get the hiss even lower and reduce the gain, you can turn down the volume knob so that it's pointing directly to the left... They still go plenty loud like this, but it further reduces the already mild hiss.

Hiss with the volume knob set at 0dB: Roughly on par with my Genelec 8260 monitors being fed digital (makes no difference if the source is plugged in or not.) The 8260 hiss is very quiet and soft instead of "sharp." Kind of the pink noise instead of white noise. Similar for the Kali IN-5.

Hiss with the volume knob turned down 90 degrees: Even less than Genelec 8260 monitors.

Not sure there are any other competitors with this performance for $700, though the LP-6 is certainly cheaper.

Elac Navis: 3x the cost, some port chuffing on a few songs.
Kef LS50w: 3x the cost, lots of waveguide movement with bass.
Other studio monitors: Most aren't coaxial, and don't have as easy of settings for placement correction on the back. Desk, ceiling, and floor bounce are highly likely to be worse due to more lobeing vs a coaxial coincident, and you're going to have to guess and check with an EQ unless you have something like the MiniDSP that will add a few hundred onto the alternative you choose.

 

[stevenswall]

Anything based on class-D amplification will meet your demands.

The JBL LSR series is based on class D amps and has hiss. So do earlier Kali models. Perhaps a Class D amp powering a class AB amp wouldn't hiss, like a BASH amp found in the Elac Navis.

 

[Pennyless Audiophile]

I have Tannoys Gold 7, and I never heard any hiss, even with the gain through the roof.

 

[stevenswall]

I have Tannoys Gold 7, and I never heard any hiss, even with the gain through the roof.

What have you compared them to and what did you like about them? I've been curious about those Tannoy's and the Pioneer RM-07 which are the only two easily available coaxial monitors I haven't heard.

 

[Pennyless Audiophile]

I don't know anything about the Pioneer, never heard of them.
However, I happen to have a few friends who work in the music industry back in Italy (I, myself, have nothing to do with it, I just like listening to it...).
Hanging around with them, in their home studios or, in a couple of cases, in "real" recording studios, I have heard a few Neumann and Yamaha monitors and I remember not particularly liking those monitor, because they seemed to suck all the life from the music. I always thought that it would be great to have speakers "accurate" as monitors but sounding a bit more "big".
One of these friends, recently, got the Gold 5 and told me that they were a steal for the price and they sounded "big" as I like.
I just trusted him and got the 7s for the new house (the 5s were not available). Now that I had them for a couple of months, I like them. They are not "great" in any department but they are "very good". I forget their existence and listen to the music. They give an impression of accuracy definitely superior than my Wharfedale Diamond 220 or the Klipsch RP 600M (but against the Klipsch is easy...)

As you can see, it is just my sonic taste, I have no specific objective contribution to bring. Tannoy publishes some graphs and they are not bad but not perfect.
The one thing I can say is that I never heard any hiss even boosting the gain to the max.

Final consideration, to be a professional monitor, they look great!

 

[daftcombo]

My Genelec 8030Cs have a slight hiss. I can hear it if my ears are within about 3-4" of the tweeter. Same with or without cabling. Beyond that its inaudible to me. I also run then with the sensitivity to +6 which is the least gain/sensitive setting.

I was complaining about hiss with 8030C even at 1m50. Recently I swapped RCA to XLR cables for XLR to XLR, and hiss decreased. It is now less audible from that distance. Source is a CD player connected to a Little Beat MC2 pre-amp. I don't know why it is better now. Perhaps the RCA cable was picking some interferences?

 

[dfuller]

OP, for cheaper speakers class AB powered chip amps and analog active crossovers in my experience tend to considerably quieter than most class D chip amps/DSP crossovers until you get up to a price point that decent AD/DA and amplifier ICs/discrete circuits are not going to too heavily affect the BOM cost (i.e. you're looking at brands like Genelec, Neumann, or Dynaudio for the cheapest low-noise DSP crossovers/class D plate amps).

All amps will have some level of hiss - even my $4000 a pair Barefoots do, if I'm within about a foot of the speaker - not that one listens that close. What matters is whether or not it's audible at listening position.

Anything based on class-D amplification will meet your demands.

Not necessarily accurate! A lot of cheap Class D plate amps have pretty severe tweeter hiss (though whether that's down to the amplifier or shoddy D/A post-DSP I couldn't tell you). Think Kali, JBL 300 series, and Adam TV series (though the Adams and the Kali IN-5 are better about this!).

The JBL LSR series is based on class D amps and has hiss. So do earlier Kali models. Perhaps a Class D amp powering a class AB amp wouldn't hiss, like a BASH amp found in the Elac Navis.

In my experience BASH amps tend pretty quiet. They're good performers too, generally...

 

[Deleted member 12642]

My Genelec 8030Cs have a slight hiss. I can hear it if my ears are within about 3-4" of the tweeter. Same with or without cabling. Beyond that its inaudible to me. I also run then with the sensitivity to +6 which is the least gain/sensitive setting.

Same, no audible hiss at my just over 1m listening distance.