Ics contributing to speaker hiss

I have recently acquired a couple new to me amps and am getting used to them. They sound fantastic.....when the music starts. Otherwise I can hear a humm from both amps. I have researched this and the general consensus is that these amps humm and there's nothing that can be done about it.

I could live with that except I also have a hiss coming through my speakers that's audible from my listening position when the music stops. I have done some experimenting and it seems the hiss is far worse when I have one brand of IC hooked up vs another brand. Strangely enough the much cheaper cables are the ones emitting less hiss.

I get this hiss when the cables are hooked up to the amp only, as well as when hooked up to the amp and preamp.

Has anyone ever had this issue? The cheaper cables sound pretty good to me compared to the more expensive ones so I'm considering just going to these but I need 2 more pairs and I can't find them anywhere now and I just dropped a few bucks on the better cables so I feel I wasted money if I don't use them.
Onkyo TX NR 5008 modified by The Upgrade Company
Oppo BDP 93 modified by The Upgrade Company
Arcam CD37
Monitor Audio Gold GS 60
Revolver Audio Music 5 towers.(surround)
Vandersteen V2W

Comments

  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Do the amps hiss without the IC cables attached, but, obviously, with the speaker cables attached? Also, do both amps have the same issue?
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • can you test the ground on your electrical socked in your house.. i seem to remember a ground problem causing a hiss at one time.

    it could be something with the audio source.. do you have another audio source you can try..

    Cambridge Azur 651A
    Polk LSi M703
    Sonos Connect




  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    I might suggest one cable lets more of the signal thru than the other, thus you hearing more hiss. Not a bad thing if you were to consider the hiss is present in the signal, not the cable.

    Following that logic, one would look at source components', quality of recordings, and power conditioning for dirty juice feeding everything. Possibly a bad cable somewhere else in the chain also.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • jayman_1975
    jayman_1975 Posts: 672
    BlueFox wrote: »
    Do the amps hiss without the IC cables attached, but, obviously, with the speaker cables attached? Also, do both amps have the same issue?

    The hiss goes away when I unhook the Ics. Yes both amps do it.....it's just a trait of these PS Audio 200c and 200cx. Fabulous sound, it's worth putting up with a little humm and hiss that's really only noticable when the music stops. I just happened to notice that one set of cables minimized the hiss and I couldn't really tell any loss in quality.
    Onkyo TX NR 5008 modified by The Upgrade Company
    Oppo BDP 93 modified by The Upgrade Company
    Arcam CD37
    Monitor Audio Gold GS 60
    Revolver Audio Music 5 towers.(surround)
    Vandersteen V2W
  • jayman_1975
    jayman_1975 Posts: 672
    can you test the ground on your electrical socked in your house.. i seem to remember a ground problem causing a hiss at one time.

    it could be something with the audio source.. do you have another audio source you can try..

    I don't really know how to test the ground on my socket but I just had the dedicated 20amp line run by my electrician last year so I don't think it's that. I tried plugging it in a different socket on a different line and it does the same thing.

    The hiss is present as soon as I plug the ICs into the amp, regardless of being plugged into the pre. It's just about like they act like an antenna
    Onkyo TX NR 5008 modified by The Upgrade Company
    Oppo BDP 93 modified by The Upgrade Company
    Arcam CD37
    Monitor Audio Gold GS 60
    Revolver Audio Music 5 towers.(surround)
    Vandersteen V2W
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Do they also have balanced (XLR) connections? If so can you try that.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • jayman_1975
    jayman_1975 Posts: 672
    BlueFox wrote: »
    Do they also have balanced (XLR) connections? If so can you try that.

    Just single ended on these amps sadly.
    Onkyo TX NR 5008 modified by The Upgrade Company
    Oppo BDP 93 modified by The Upgrade Company
    Arcam CD37
    Monitor Audio Gold GS 60
    Revolver Audio Music 5 towers.(surround)
    Vandersteen V2W