Surround Sound hiss.

james.miller · 29 Nov 2006 at 11:17

my yamaha av amp doesnt hiss at all. though you can hear a little bleeding from other inputs when you turn the amp up to -10db or so, but christ i wouldnt want to play any material at that level. Conversely, my jvc ax-r551 2 channel amp (which is vastly superior with music) does hiss. strange that.

NeilF · 29 Nov 2006 at 11:26

SoliD said:
Now i set it all up and everything works, getting some nice surround, but i have the problem that my rear speakers always hiss whenever the system is turned on.

A user's review from another site:-

There is also a slight continual hiss from the speakers, even when muted.

So doesn't look good... Try the previous suggestions though, it may help...

SoliD · 29 Nov 2006 at 11:37

DRZ said:
Does it do it on every input? Say you have it on the DVD channel, if you switch it from a digital input to the analogue input for the same channel, does the hissing change?

Nope only on video1/2 on dvd it doesnt do the hissing. but when its off min volume on vid 1/2 it starts to hiss.

ill try move the wires around at some point see if that helps and only use short wires to see if that fixes the problem, i wouldnt say its mega cheap, ie alba cheap, so i dont really expect it. i mean its not so loud you can hear it over other sounds but when you're up close its definitely audible.

NeilF · 29 Nov 2006 at 11:42

SoliD said:
Nope only on video1/2 on dvd it doesnt do the hissing. but when its off min volume on vid 1/2 it starts to hiss.

ill try move the wires around at some point see if that helps and only use short wires to see if that fixes the problem, i wouldnt say its mega cheap, ie alba cheap, so i dont really expect it. i mean its not so loud you can hear it over other sounds but when you're up close its definitely audible.

Ahhh! What's plugged into video 1 & 2, that's different to the DVD?

The fact you don't get hiss on "DVD" surely proves it's not the speakers/wiring?

SoliD · 29 Nov 2006 at 13:20

NeilFawcett said:
Ahhh! What's plugged into video 1 & 2, that's different to the DVD?

The fact you don't get hiss on "DVD" surely proves it's not the speakers/wiring?

dunno got pc plugged into vid 1 with el cheapo cable and have optical cable coming from my tv into vid2.

NeilF · 30 Nov 2006 at 09:06

SoliD said:
dunno got pc plugged into vid 1 with el cheapo cable and have optical cable coming from my tv into vid2.

Well, if you unplug the inputs and the hiss remains unchanged, you know there's nothing you can do about it.

SoliD · 30 Nov 2006 at 09:31

NeilFawcett said:
Well, if you unplug the inputs and the hiss remains unchanged, you know there's nothing you can do about it.

thought just as much, ohwell will have to put up with it, does me for now. might buy a new amp in the future when i got a bit more cash to splash.

NeilF · 30 Nov 2006 at 11:18

SoliD said:
thought just as much, ohwell will have to put up with it, does me for now. might buy a new amp in the future when i got a bit more cash to splash.

You unplugged the devices on those inputs? And it made no difference?

ps: I suspect it's just a specific issue with that particular amp - see my quote from another user above... Spending more isn't really the answer... I suspect you can find other reasonably priced one without a "hiss"

squiffy · 30 Nov 2006 at 11:54

Amplifier Noise floor + Sensitivity of the speakers = Hiss

It's that simple. If the speakers are sensitive (ie horns) there'll be loads of hiss as the speakers themselves will amplify the noisefloor from the amplifier.

Dr.EM · 30 Nov 2006 at 13:45

The speaker cables will not pick up noise btw. Only signal cables can pick up noise (hence shielding/balanced systems) and that noise will most commonly be buzzing. The higher the input impedance the cable connects to and the longer the cable is, the more likely it is to present noise. Any decent microphone or studio system will use balanced connections, but this is rarely needed in Hi-Fi

ICE Master · 4 Dec 2006 at 11:32

i get hissing through mine. my speaker wires are ran with loads of cables. I dont think i can hear it when i have my dvd player attached but when im using my computer to stream music/dvd's thats when it happens.

Are you connecting your computer to your amp, if so try a different source.

NeilF · 4 Dec 2006 at 13:32

ICE Master said:
i get hissing through mine. my speaker wires are ran with loads of cables. I dont think i can hear it when i have my dvd player attached but when im using my computer to stream music/dvd's thats when it happens.

Are you connecting your computer to your amp, if so try a different source.

Yes, if you plug in different sources and the hiss increases/decreases obviously quite clearly points to the cause