C2700 Possible Issue

[Stahle]

dkorbal says that he is getting hiss if he puts his ear right up next to the driver with a dead quiet room. I assume in order to hear this he must also have the volume turned up. PeterMusic, if you turned your volume way up with no signal and put your ear next to the tweeter, I doubt that you would not hear some hiss. The question then is how much hiss. The hiss is typically at a low volume so maybe not everyone can hear it but it is pretty normal to hear some hiss if you turn the volume way up and stick your ear right next to the tweeter, again with no signal and the volume CRANKED. However, if you are hearing this and the volume is not turned up, that would be a problem or you have amazing hearing.

[dkorbal]

Originally Posted by Stahle

dkorbal says that he is getting hiss if he puts his ear right up next to the driver with a dead quiet room. I assume in order to hear this he must also have the volume turned up. PeterMusic, if you turned your volume way up with no signal and put your ear next to the tweeter, I doubt that you would not hear some hiss. The question then is how much hiss. The hiss is typically at a low volume so maybe not everyone can hear it but it is pretty normal to hear some hiss if you turn the volume way up and stick your ear right next to the tweeter, again with no signal and the volume CRANKED. However, if you are hearing this and the volume is not turned up, that would be a problem or you have amazing hearing.

Thanks Stahle. I need to confirm this (currently away) but the hiss is independent from volume control. The dealer replaced tubes and I’m quite certain when I first purchased and installed the C2700 preamp into my system 2 months ago I have NO noticeable hiss, dead black background. I’m still wondering if this is an amp/tube issue.

Thanks PeterMusic for sharing your experience with the men-220. My listening room is shared with tv/entertainment and although I have treatments on the front wall (behind the speakers) I’ve alway had problems getting that perfect sound. MY listening chair is not centered between the speakers, I have hardwood floors and low ceiling. I think I would like to demo the men-220 so will keep in mind your evaluation experience.

[dkorbal]

Ok just did a quick listening test with my ears and this is what I found.

1. Volume DOES affect the hiss loudness. When set at 0% there is a faint hiss, definitely not totally black. As I turn volume up to 100% the hiss increases but at 100% I still need to have my ear close to the tweeter and midrange drivers to hear it. I can’t hear anything coming from the woofer.
2. Hiss is on all inputs even the ones that have no cables connected to them.

Is this normal for tube equipment? Is what I’m hearing power line noise?

[Stahle]

Originally Posted by dkorbal

Ok just did a quick listening test with my ears and this is what I found.

1. Volume DOES affect the hiss loudness. When set at 0% there is a faint hiss, definitely not totally black. As I turn volume up to 100% the hiss increases but at 100% I still need to have my ear close to the tweeter and midrange drivers to hear it. I can’t hear anything coming from the woofer.
2. Hiss is on all inputs even the ones that have no cables connected to them.

Is this normal for tube equipment? Is what I’m hearing power line noise?

Less the MEN220, my system is probably a good comparison to yours because I’m using a C22IV tube preamp and a brand new MC462 amp. They are connected via Wireworld Silver Eclipse 8 balanced cables and I’m using Gold Lion tubes. I tested for any hiss this morning just to verify what I was previously saying, and like I said before, I get the faintest of hiss when I crank the volume and put my ear next to the tweeter even from inputs that are not being used. I then tested it at zero volume and if I do the same thing, to my surprise there was still a hiss, but it’s SO much harder to hear so my guess is that it's normal. I must emphasize that I have to have my ear on the tweeter to hear any hiss which would never be heard under normal listening situations even if sitting close to the speakers. A couple things to note. First is that I get no hiss from the other drivers in the speaker, only from the tweeter and second is that if I turn off the C22 preamp but leave the MC462 on, the hiss completely disappears.

If you’re worried about it, go to your dealer and listen to their C2700, I’ll bet you get the same results.

[Masterlu]

Hiss db’s divided by your age = actual noise level.

[PeterMusic]

Good question on volume level, Stahle (and great point, Ivan, haha). I have listened closely for hiss at normal volumes, but never tried to produce hiss by cranking it, and I am away from my main system for the summer, so I cannot check now.

dk--I look forward to hearing the results of your MEN220 demo. My guess is that it helps for some rooms/systems/listeners but not others.

[Stahle]

Originally Posted by PeterMusic

Good question on volume level, Stahle (and great point, Ivan, haha). I have listened closely for hiss at normal volumes, but never tried to produce hiss by cranking it, and I am away from my main system for the summer, so I cannot check now.

dk--I look forward to hearing the results of your MEN220 demo. My guess is that it helps for some rooms/systems/listeners but not others.

I’d be curious to hear your results. I might go by my dealer and try it with their system. I also wonder if a solid state pre like the C53 would produce any hiss as compared to a tubed pre like my C22.

[miner]

I believe a tube preamp such as the C2700 will exhibit some “tube rush” noise with no signal from a source and volume turned up. OTOH, my C2300 exhibits no tube rush at volume ‘0’.

[PeterMusic]

Originally Posted by Stahle

I’d be curious to hear your results. I might go by my dealer and try it with their system. I also wonder if a solid state pre like the C53 would produce any hiss as compared to a tubed pre like my C22.

Reporting back--I have faint hiss in both woofer and tweeter at 75% volume and up. Nothing at 50%.

My guess on the SS is that hiss would be less than tubes. I would also guess that if I pulled my premium cables and grounding system, I'd hear more hiss.

[Stahle]

I tested a system at the dealer last week and I heard the exact same amount of hiss in it as I do mine even though they were using higher grade cables than mine. This leads me to believe that it is quite normal.