Hiss coming from new Klipsch FR-82's

**04-07-07, 11:42 PM**

I have just gotten some Klipsch fr-82's and they are hissing at all volume levels, the speakers that I had before were Klipsch RB-35's and had no hiss. Any ideas on what could be causing this?

Thanks for your input
Eric

**alan monro** · **04-08-07, 12:17 AM**

Eric.Look at your amplifier that is where the hiss is coming from .NOT the speakers. Kind regards Alan

**04-08-07, 01:59 AM**

What should I be looking for?

Any input is appreciated.

**alan monro** · **04-08-07, 05:55 AM**

Eric.I dont know your setup. Are you using a tube amplifier,?Could you tell more about your present setup. alan

**04-08-07, 09:49 AM**

This is what I currently have

Samsung 50" 720p DLP HDTV
Onkyo TX-SR803 7.1 surround receiver (I currently have a 6.1 setup)
The speakers that I have for this setup are as follows:
Klipsch FR-82's for the mains
Klipsch RC-35 for the center
Klipsch RS-35's for the side surrounds and the rear center
Elemental Designs A2-300 12" powered sub
Series 3 HD TiVo
Samsung HD950 up-converting DVD/SACD player
Sony MXD-D3 Mini Disc recorder/CD player

**Otto** · **04-08-07, 09:50 AM**

Hi Eric,

Are both speakers hissing? Can you put the original speakers back in that location? If so, and if they continue to hiss, something happened in the rest of your setup when you swapped them.

Could thEre be any short of speaker wire somewhere along the line? Perhaps just a single strand?

Does it happen with all inputs? i.e., use your CD input, your TV input, digital inputs, analog inputs, etc.

Basically, you have to start to remove possibilites until you find the thing that makes it come and go...

**04-08-07, 11:49 AM**

Both mains are hissing. I sold the old speakers so I can not try them out to see if they hiss also.

I'll have to check and see if there are any loose strands but I doubt that there are any.

I get the hiss on all of the sound modes except "Pure Audio and Direct".

The hissing goes away when I also mute the vol, but when I turn the vol all the way down I still get the hissing.

The hissing happens on all of the inputs.

It is only the two mains. I tried hooking the RF-82's up to surround channels and the hiss went away while connected this way.

**alan monro** · **04-08-07, 10:43 PM**

Eric, In speaker setup mode for 7.1 on your Onkyo amp try setting the levels again . Maybe the gain is set to high for main spkrs. Give it a go and let us know if that works . alan

**alan monro** · **04-10-07, 04:01 AM**

Eric another idea is are all the plugs properly connected between the amp and cd .dvd etc. maybe you could have loosened the plugs ????? alan

**Otto** · **04-10-07, 08:12 AM**

Quote:

Replacement wrote:

It is only the two mains. I tried hooking the RF-82's up to surround channels and the hiss went away while connected this way.

Can you remove the mains and just stick the RF-82s in their place, just to see what happens? I don't think it's a speaker problem, but we need to rule that out first.

**drdoan** · **04-10-07, 09:49 AM**

Is the hiss audible from your listening position? Is the hissing a low hiss or a higher pitched hiss? It may be your amp has a problem. Muting tells you that the problem is somewhere before the mute circuit. Since it goes away in the direct mode, that tells you that the problem is in the signal processing area. Could be a defective Dolby chip or something like that. Hope you can find and fix the cause. Dennis

**04-10-07, 10:34 AM**

Quote:

Otto wrote:

Can you remove the mains and just stick the RF-82s in their place, just to see what happens? I don't think it's a speaker problem, but we need to rule that out first.

The RF-82's are what I am using for th mains, what I was trying to say is that they don't make the hissing on any other channels like center or the surround channels.

**04-10-07, 10:37 AM**

Quote:

drdoan wrote:

Is the hiss audible from your listening position? Is the hissing a low hiss or a higher pitched hiss? It may be your amp has a problem. Muting tells you that the problem is somewhere before the mute circuit. Since it goes away in the direct mode, that tells you that the problem is in the signal processing area. Could be a defective Dolby chip or something like that. Hope you can find and fix the cause. Dennis

I can barely hear the hiss from where I sit, it has to be quite in the room for this to happen.
I would have to say a low pitch hiss comming from the tweeter like "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF FFFFFFF".

**04-10-07, 10:38 AM**

Quote:

alan monro wrote:

Eric another idea is are all the plugs properly connected between the amp and cd .dvd etc. maybe you could have loosened the plugs ????? alan

I have checked them, but I will check them again when I get a chance to setup my speaker levels again.

**04-10-07, 10:56 AM**

Some of your problem may stem from the difference in sensitivity of the speakers.

The RB35 as listed on Klipsch's site is 96dB @ 2.83 volts/1 meter and the RF-82 is 98dB @ 2.83V / 1m.
That is nearly twice as efficient. Amps always put out very small amount of volts and the more efficient the speakers the more of the electronic noise (in this case hiss) you will hear. The mute circuit is after the amp section so of course when activated, the hiss goes away. As asked before, can you hear it from your listening position or only standing close to the speaker, and when playing music etc. do you hear the hiss other than what is in the source material? All in all, if the hiss is noticable at the listening position, then it may be time to upgrade the receiver. Now don't get me wrong the one you have is fine, maybe just not as quiet as you would like.

**Otto** · **04-10-07, 10:57 AM**

Gotcha about moving the speakers to the rears, etc. I misunderstood. So we know it's pretty much not the speakers.

Have you unplugged the receiver? Let it sit for a while and restart.

Like others, I think it's got something to do with your processor...

**04-10-07, 11:07 AM**

Quote:

NormanB wrote:

Some of your problem may stem from the difference in sensitivity of the speakers.

The RB35 as listed on Klipsch's site is 96dB @ 2.83 volts/1 meter and the RF-82 is 98dB @ 2.83V / 1m.
That is nearly twice as efficient. Amps always put out very small amount of volts and the more efficient the speakers the more of the electronic noise (in this case hiss) you will hear. The mute circuit is after the amp section so of course when activated, the hiss goes away. As asked before, can you hear it from your listening position or only standing close to the speaker, and when playing music etc. do you hear the hiss other than what is in the source material? All in all, if the hiss is noticable at the listening position, then it may be time to upgrade the receiver. Now don't get me wrong the one you have is fine, maybe just not as quiet as you would like.

When sitting at my normal listening position with the vol all the way down I can hear the hiss, (barely) I stand next to the speaker and I would have to say that it is most noticeable within 4 feet, it doesn't get louder with different vol levels. When I turn up the vol and hear the music/movie/tv then I can't really hear it, but it is still there.

**drdoan** · **04-10-07, 11:11 AM**

That does sound like a more than normal amount of background hiss. Dennis

**alan monro** · **04-11-07, 02:16 AM**

Eric Give the Onkyo amp American agents a ring and see if you can get onto the service dept. Tell them the front amps have a notable hiss and can the amp be serviced. This may be the cheapest way out of your problem. Please let us know how you go as it definitely an amp problem. alan. Is the amp under Warranty??????

**04-11-07, 10:08 AM**

Any chance of borrowing another receiver or pre/pro and amp and recheck?

**04-12-07, 12:26 PM**

Quote:

alan monro wrote:

Eric Give the Onkyo amp American agents a ring and see if you can get onto the service dept. Tell them the front amps have a notable hiss and can the amp be serviced. This may be the cheapest way out of your problem. Please let us know how you go as it definitely an amp problem. alan. Is the amp under Warranty??????

The amp is still under warranty.
I'll give Onkyo a call and see what they say.

I hope I don't have to send it in, there are a lot of connections going to it

**04-12-07, 12:29 PM**

Quote:

NormanB wrote:

Any chance of borrowing another receiver or pre/pro and amp and recheck?

I have an old sony receiver I could try but that thing is junk. It hisses on every channel.

It seems that it is the Onkyo receiver

**drdoan** · **04-12-07, 12:44 PM**

As a former electronics repairman, I would send it to a "Factory service center" usually in TX or CA. I wouldn't send it to a "Factory Authorized service center" the difference being that the factory service center is owned and operated by the company that made the receiver whereas the factory authorized service center is just some local service center where one or more of the employees has taken a factory service course-no guarantees that they know which end to fix! Just FYI, Dennis

**04-12-07, 09:27 PM**

Quote:

drdoan wrote:

As a former electronics repairman, I would send it to a "Factory service center" usually in TX or CA. I wouldn't send it to a "Factory Authorized service center" the difference being that the factory service center is owned and operated by the company that made the receiver whereas the factory authorized service center is just some local service center where one or more of the employees has taken a factory service course-no guarantees that they know which end to fix! Just FYI, Dennis

Thanks for the advise.
The warranty that I have is an extended one from CC.
Hopefully I can get my problem fixed.

**alan monro** · **04-12-07, 10:03 PM**

Eric, finally , there is light at the end of the tunnel . Kind regards Alan

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