My receiver hisses! WHY?!

[tpg]

I have a new Onkyo TX-SR500 and on the volume control from 80-max it has a hiss that gradually increases until it hits max at which point it is quite loud. Anyone have an idea why it might do this? Can it be fixed? My friend has a really cheap Kenwood receiver and it NEVER hisses at any volume. This really bothers me...

[Mighty Favog]

I've found that some DTS (and others) decoders can produce such a hiss. This may or may not be the case with yours. See if it changes with it on/off. If yours has a loudness control that be it as well. It your loudness is variable then see if the amount of hiss changes with adjusting it. If so there's your source. My McIntosh C33 preamp hisses mor ethe lower the loudness control is set for and almost totaly disappears above 3/4 to full. Of course by that time the bass is unbearable/unreasonable.

[Hofy]

I just bought an Onkyo TX-SR500 myself. I havent hooked it up yet as it is a Christmas present for the family. I'll have to let you know tonight when I do a test hook up.

[Hofy]

OK, I couldnt wait. Something like this eats at me. I get hiss at 80+ too. Nothing really loud though. I can barely hear it from a couple of feet away. Also to note this is only when DVD is selected with digital in. I switch to 6 channel or any other source and the hiss is low enough that I have to press my ear up to my speakers at Max volume to hear the hiss. So basically it comes down to the Digital processing me thinks. < Also note that I am not useing Klipsch speakers right now. I have my ACI Sats hooked up which are rated 8ohms 89db 1w/1m. Also I had no source equipment hooked up. Just the receiver and speakers. >

I hope you can exchange it at your dealer. Good luck and keep us posted.

[tpg]

Well, that is about the same way mine goes... when DVD is selected as source it hisses. I will test it with another source to see, later... but right now I am doing homework... finals week...

[DrPyro]

trespasser_guy-

Relax for one minute. There can be various sources of this "hiss", most notably the DAQs, Amps, & Power.

As Tom noted, the DAQs can add substantial levels of "hiss" expecially due to the ultra high efficency of the klipsch speakers. I don't know if you can try this trick, but on my Denon you can select DVD and change the decoding engine (DTS, DD, Stereo, Direct, and a ton of other usless DSPs). Each time you change the engine, the level of the hiss will change. For my denon, its quietest as Direct & Stereo and Loudest with Matrix and another DSP i don't use, but DTS/DD both produce noticable louder hiss levels.

Secondly, the amps will also amplify the hiss produced by the DAQs and create its own. REceivers are known for not having the quietest amps. To test if the hiss is amplifer based, do as you have done and change the volume on the receiver (with no source selected). If the volume of the hiss changes in most of the various DSP settings, then its probably your amps.

Finally, your power could be a problem (or cross talk between components). I recently upgraded my power center from a old (ball park 7 years) Tripplite computer surge protector to a Monster power center 5000MkII. The filters on the power center GREATLY decreased the level of the hiss. I was shocked since I thought the tripplite had fairly good filters and my power was fairly decent, DOH, I was wrong.

Hope this helps.....

I'm picking up a Parasound amp (HCA-1205A) tonight and that might knock down the amp generated hiss of my Denon...I'll let you know tomorrow what I think of a seperate amp vs reciever generated amp hiss.

[Hofy]

I think one other thing needs to be brought up about the Onkyo TX-SR500. It is a sub $300 receiver, NOT a Stage One. That said, I find it still has less hiss than some better stuff I have owned over the years. Plus, how often are you going to have it cranked up to 80% or higher listening levels? If it is the majority of the time you need more power.

Also as DrPyro stated, check your juice. Clean power does wonders. When I tested the other night it was plugged straight into an outlet. I tested again tonight plugged into my Panamax and it helped quite abit.

[lynnm]

trespasser_guy

The following is not a shot at you but merely my fantasy about how this question might be answered elsewhere:

I suspect that you are yet another victim of IEKSS , (often mistakenly referred to as YIKES or even - OVME - Oy Vey ! Mein Ears !), but which more properly refers to the well documented Insanely Efficient Klipsch Speaker Syndrome.

Patients complain that their experience is that various audio components whose performance ranged ,(within an admittedly subjective scale), anywhere from acceptable

to exceptionally good, suddenly sound "GAWDfargingAWFULL" when used in conjunction with Klipsch speakers.

Intensive testing and an exhaustive literature search lead to the conclusion that the earlier findings of the Computing Science Department and The Anatomy Department combined with a supportive literature review for clarity's sake from the archives of The Geography Department lead us to the following conclusions:

The CS department long ago established that in computers,( and so as far has been determined - in most other areas of study and pedagogy ), that Garbage in = Garbage Out. This mathematical equation may be simply expressed in short form as GIGO.

The CS Department has repeatedly demonstrated that patients unable to understand the GIGO equation are prone to having difficulty with finding their glutii maximi even when utilising both hands and a copy of Gray's Anatomy.

The Anatomy Department in conjunction with the Geography Department,(GD has graciously withheld any formal objection to the titular description of some editions of Gray's Anatomy which bear the subtitle "An Atlas of Human Physiology" - in spite of the fact that "Atlas" is not properly an anatomical term and Humanity is only rarely considered in the study of Geography - < (editor's comment You want this on the web or shall we look at the second weekend of January )- THE KID IS ALREADY LOOKING A LITTLE PLUMP!! Perhaps you want to explain that it isn't yurrz - I'm sure some people might believe it belongs to that drippy little coke-head that lives at your house between incarcerations and not you - in spite of that unpleasant bit of business back in '89 or '90 - OOPS It was both '89 and '90 !! PERVERT ) - and the Geo Boys thereby have expedited a response to this reader - Thank You Map Freax !!

Let's Give up Por Los Estudiantes de Los Montannas ! ( Gracias especial a Los Departamentos de Espanol y Ingles !)

AKA

Klipsch speakers are extremely efficient and are therefore likely to cause system noise that is undetectable with other speakers to become audible.

Solution: Turn it Down ! - Or learn to live with the hiss between cutz !

[Jalen01]

don't know if this applies to your guys' situation or not? But, if you are running Cable Tv thru your recievers, could be a ground loop hum from the Cable. I had a slight buzz from my reciever regardless of the source selected when not fixing my ground loop problem.

I also had another problem when I first got my Parasound Pre amp hooked-up. A Kind meber of "THE Board", suggested I get some cheater plugs & or try different outlets of my room. The Latter ended up fixing the problem in this case.

If none of these solutions fixes your problems or is not the case. Then I would look at returning those recievers.

Jalen

[whell]

PROBLEM: Hiss, humm, buzz, or any other digital or analog "nasties" that distract from the listening experience.

SUGESTION: power off your receiver, disconnect everything, except for the speakers. Power system on. If the hiss is still there, then there "COULD" be an issue with the receiver or the speakers. Power off and disconnect one speaker or the otehr speaker to see if the hiss disappears.

If not, then power down again, reconnect ONE piece of equipment. Power on. No hiss? Good. Power off and continue to reconnect equipment and check to see if the hiss reappears. If at some point it does, than the last piece of equipment connected could be the source of the problem. If the last thing connected is a VCR or cable box, then a ground loop might be the cause of the problem, but this is usually a hum, not a hiss.

[Doc Holiday]

I own this receiver amoung others, and I also have had that hissing problem. And it is mostly due to your speakers because I also own the previos version of that receiver which is almost the same thing internally and it is hooked up with crappy speakers and you can not hear any hiss. The other thing is that it is a very low end receiver, its onkyo's lowest end model so what can you really expect? its going to be your best buy for the money for sure but if you want to eleminate that sound you'll probbaly just have to spend more money. i know the 600 internally would probably have about 1/3 less of the hiss......