Help ....... faint hiss

[mkuo]

I connected the amp with 5 speakers over the weekend. No other equipments were connected at the time. When I put my hear close to all 5 speakers, I could hear faint hiss coming out of tweeters area from all speakers.

I don’t have a power conditioner nor an expensive AC power cord to run the amp now so my questions is
“Will a good power conditioner and / or a good AC power cord eliminate the hiss?”

Before I pull the trigger purchase any of them, I would like to hear your suggestions.
I appreciated all your thoughts and advice.

My equipments are as follow;
Rotel Amp (RMB-1095) with Stock Power Cord
Front speakers (B&W 804s)
Center (KEF Q6c)
Surround (KEF Q compact)
Speaker Cable (Audioquest Type 4 and Type 8)

[miner]

A faint hiss is pretty common BUT if you can hear it from your listening position that is a problem. I too have/had a faint hiss coming from my B&W/Rotel setup. It became fainter when I added the RB-1092 amp (replaced my RB-1070). Then, when I added a RLC-1040 (Rotel Line Conditioner) to the mix my faint hiss is nonexistant. If you do decide on adding a line conditioner be sure and do your homework. There is some 'junk' being peddled out there.

[mkuo]

miner, thank you for your advice.
I only hear a faint hiss when I put my ear close to the tweeter.
However, I would love to get rid of this hiss completely if it is possible.
What basic power conditioner would you recommend less than $500?

[shadow 8]

There is no guarantee that a power filter will eliminate tweeter hiss. Cheaper gear uses circuitry to eliminate low level hiss at the cost of decreased transparency. Rotel does not use this masking circuitry to compromise sound quality. The hiss is at most a minor quirk unless you listen six inches from the speakers.

[mkuo]

You will hear a faint hiss in most systems when you put your ear close to the tweeter.
Is this statement true?

[Kevin D]

You will hear a faint hiss in most systems when you put your ear close to the tweeter.
Is this statement true?

I would say true, and I also agree with Shadow.

It's along the same lines as strange noises on any analog input, turned up all the way, with no source connected. Sure a $299 receiver probably adds things to make this not happen, but it's not really something anyone should be doing on a normal basis.

Kevin D.

[mkuo]

Thank you Shadow and Kevin.
I think I shouldn't worry about the faint hiss coming out from the tweeters.
I should save the money and spend on a better CD player or a B&W center speaker.

[shadow 8]

Thank you Shadow and Kevin.
I think I shouldn't worry about the faint hiss coming out from the tweeters.
I should save the money and spend on a better CD player or a B&W center speaker.

You are welcome. You do this for long enough, you hear everything again. About 20 years ago I traded in a receiver for a used Audio Research solid state amp and pre (think it was an SP9?). When I got them home, I noticed that same hiss a foot from the speaker. I called my dealer and he said that was normal, but come down to the shop. He proceeded to hook up each high end pre on the rack including a new Krell and a used Levinson. All had the same low level noise. He then hooked up my old receiver and there was no hiss. He asked me, are you willing to trade off the huge improvement in sound quality for a little less noise when nothing was playing? Easy answer. Since the AR pair was my first high end separates, I expected everything to be perfect with no compromises like a little hiss. Funny thing is that when you are playing music the AR and now the Rotels actually seem clearer with more dynamics, which implies better signal to noise.

[miner]

miner, thank you for your advice.
I only hear a faint hiss when I put my ear close to the tweeter.
However, I would love to get rid of this hiss completely if it is possible.
What basic power conditioner would you recommend less than $500?

For $500 all that is available is Monster, Panamax and Rotel/APC. I chose Rotel/APC after comparing various models.

[David L.]

For $500 all that is available is Monster, Panamax and Rotel/APC. I chose Rotel/APC after comparing various models.

The Belkin PF60 can be found on the internet for less than $500.00 as well. I think it got pretty good reviews, but of course you would want to verify it has what you're looking for.