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Preamp is a Rogue Perseus Magnum. Has a small amount of a white noise 'SSSHHHH' sound you can hear 2-3 feet from the speakers. My previous AR amp had a hum just below that level, but my VTA PH16 is totally quiet, along with the 556 amp. It's unaffected by the volume, same on both channels, and doesn't change between inputs. It does go away with the mute on which tells me is isn't the Loki. I swapped it out for a bit with my Meridian pre so I could add some resistors to dim the front panel light. Is this normal with a tube preamp? Or is it possible to get dead quiet with tubes?
Follow Ups:
That hissing sound is usually caused by a tube going bad... atoms of air that collide with the electrons in a leaky tube will cause that sound...
In a lot of modern designs, when the tubes start to get worn out they begin to hiss. Eventually it will get louder.
If it's a concern try a new fresh set of tubes. But DO~!!!! have them tested by a reputable dealer. Preamp tubes are very sensitive to noise problems.
no clue actually, I got the preamp used over a year ago. I don't remember if the seller listed the tube age, I don't think so.
My CJ does that. New tubes can't hurt.
Yes, tubes can have hiss but that's why I always get tubes that are selected for lowest noise as if they are going into a phono preamp. I never has noise issue.
I had that problem -"shssshhhhing" once with my Transcendent Grounded Grid tube preamp.
Turned out I had the preamp too close to my router and rfi/swithching noice eminating from the rounter was causing the problem.
As soon as I moved the preamp 6 ft. away from the router, hissing noise disappeared.
sex after 70 is like trying to play pool with a rope
First question -- do you have very high efficiency speakers?
In general, tubes are typically noisier than solid state circuits but it generally isn't audible. Perhaps you have a mismatch between the gain in your amp and the efficiency of your speakers.
Or, as others have suggested, perhaps you just have a noisy tube or two in your amp. If the tubes have a lot of hours on them, it may be time to replace them. And, sometimes even new tubes can be noisy.
only 86 db sensitivity. I'm guessing that's fairly low? The only thing I have to swap in for comparison is my Energy C2 , but those are similar at 88 db.
And don't hear any hiss, I have to put my ear tight up against the tweeter and even then can barely hear any hiss. A buddy of mine said when he heard my system and it was all tubes at the time was how surprised he was at how quiet my system was with now music on and volume still turned up pretty good.
... are medium-low efficiency. You shouldn't be hearing hiss, so sounds to me like the amp needs a set of tubes or some other service.
I have all Quicksilver tube gear and is dead quiet!
There's a difference between dead quiet and hearing loss ;-)
My Audiologist says my hearing is above average!
"My Audiologist says my hearing is above average! "
You lucky MFer, gimme your address so I can come shoot you ! (of course I am joking)
I used to have really good hearing. I actually used it as a tool at work. I fixed TVs and most of them emit 15.734KHz. I could tell immediately if the horizontal/high voltage system was working.
Also I was in situations where people are talking in another room and I hear something and say "WHAT?". They are saying then "I can't believe he heard that.
Now I simply can't listen to flat response. i need equalization just to make it intelligible. The same with normal conversation, I am losing it for real.
If you don't mind saying, how old are you ? It is uncanny how some people have great hearing at 80 and others are half deaf at 50.
It is not just heredity either. My Mother has never been to a rock concert, she only heard a gunshot a very few times in her life, never worked in a loud factory but she is half deaf. She has hearing aids. When she gets a new set she needs them tweaked like a dozen times before they're right.
My hearing loss started when I was exposed to black mold. It was the same time I started developing cataracts. I did recover from that except for eyes and ears, and they never found it because that mold affects people in so many different ways it is almost impossible to diagnose. We found it when we moved my bed. Never buy a used mattress.
But it all happened in a few years, it is like I aged ten times as fast.
You know what seems strange ? When I use headphones I seem to need less EQ. I can't say that is is the mechanical part of the ears though, I have terrible balance now.
Anyway, to get to the subject here, it seems tubes have a much wider range on noise levels, and it also seems that they are more prone to degrade in that regard. Your old faithful ECC83 might sound like a leaky pipe, or it could be quiet as outer space.
Seems when a transistor gets noisy it acts differently. You hear some hiss and then it pops and clicks and all that. It is just the nature of the game I guess and I make no attempt to explain it. I can say this much though, when a power tube gets really noisy you re not far from seeing sparks.
I used to hear that 15KHz flyback transformer squeal but I'm not sure that I can today. Of course, I no longer have a CRT TV to test my hearing against.
Edits: 09/23/20
I am 71! I wish everything else worked as good as my hearing!
and I do have some hearing issues, including some left ear tinnitus that started 9 yrs ago. I can't hear above 8.5k in the left ear and 9k in the right, however high pitched edge music bothers me, hence the Loki.
What does Loki mean?
Hope you don't mind me butting in. The Loki is a Schiit product. Link below.
Thanks much!
The frequency curves for each control:
and I also have an 'Aphex Exciter' which is a studio standard 1 rack space device. The only quirk about it is the lack of cut in it - boost only. When mixing or recording a project, cut is used on the mixing board.
But it's sound quality is transparent like the Loki and the controls are variable for frequency and amount. They are also a bit tighter in Q. It also has balanced and line level selection. I consider it indispensable and can always be switched out of circuit.
See link
"Bass is the place..the rest is filigree and lace" Doug Sax
Interesting device. I do like attenuating the low frequencies when using subwoofers with my stand-mount speakers.
Tom
Yea, that's the only drawback with it, the lack of attenuation. But they do have other devices on the website and I'll have to investigate what they got.It can make speakers deficient on low end come alive with the 'Big Bottom'. The difference can be substantial and eliminate the need for a sub.
"Bass is the place..the rest is filigree and lace" Doug Sax
Edits: 09/24/20
I'm liking what stereo subs add to the music now that the Loki is helping to send the right frequencies to the right speakers. It's sort of like adding a second cross-over, so it sounds more like a three-way system than separates.
I looked real quick at the products they had to offer and will do some more looking around. Cool stuff.
Tom
Some amount of white noise hiss is normal in tube gear but not to the point where it's obvious from your listening position. Does the hiss vary as you turn up the volume? If you're hearing it from a few feet away, that seems a bit excessive to me. The problem becomes more noticeable with very sensitive speakers but your Vandersteens (per your profile) aren't especially sensitive.
The tubes themselves can be noisy and they tend to get noisier with age. I think it's more prevalent in high gain designs. My Aesthetix Calypso preamp had a bit of background hiss if I were standing just a foot or two from the speakers, but it wasn't noticeable from about 8 feet away which was my normal listening position. I tried various tubes in the Aesthetix preamp not to reduce the hiss but to slightly tailor the sound. But I did notice that some tubes were quieter than others.
listening position recently is about 4-5 ft away as I'm at a computer desk working from home in my listening room. Listening chair is 9-10 ft away. I can hear it when I walk up to it but swear I hear it from my chair. Maybe it's my head noise.
Sounds like a noisy tube(s).
It is absolutely possible to get dead quiet with tubes.
If you cannot hear it when music is playing, maybe just ignore it? Otherwise new tubes selected for low noise/microphonics seem to be in your future.
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