Why Do My Speakers Buzz/Hiss

Allen Marshall · 10-18-2003, 04:51 PM

its always there, only comes out of the tweeters i believe i dont notice it when the volume is down cause its to faint but its always there when i crank up my speakers it starts to get loud, i dont know how to describe it, it's like a faint wind noise, if i listen to nothing and jack the volume all the way up as load as it goes it's this really loud buzzing noise, are speakers supposed to do that or should it be completely silent, its really annoying speacially when the tweeter has to do something like a wind noise, like when there on the roof in The Matrix and there's a breeze noise it sounds terrible.

Oh oh i got a better example if you download a low quality song and it has the scccchhhhhhhhhhh noise in the background, thats exactly whats commin out of my speakers at all times and i dont know how to fix it.

Jason.Soko · 10-18-2003, 05:40 PM

There will always be electrical noise. It will only come out of the tweeter because the frequency at which it is at is handled by the tweeter. You can help reduce it by using dedicated power, conditioning etc. But you will never eliminate it.

ChrisWiggles · 10-18-2003, 06:30 PM

This is the receiver/source, etc, NOT the speakers. The speakers are really dumb objects, they only reproduce what is being fed to them. If they are hissing, it's because somewhere else in the setup noise is getting into the system because something has failed, interconnects are poorly shielded, or most often, because of poor quality components with lackluster design, that leads to a very noticeable noise floor. There's not a whole lot you can do except try to find what in your system is making the noise.

GrahamT · 10-18-2003, 08:24 PM

I agree with Chris. I had the same problem with my sony receiver. I switched to a Harman and now there is no more hiss, even with the same songs at high volumes.

Michael R Price · 10-19-2003, 10:54 AM

Of course, you could have a ground loop, but that would not really explain hissing. In my system I have no noticeable hiss because the amplifiers and CD player are decently quiet and my speakers are inefficient. But there is a little buzzing that goes away when one of the amplifiers is unplugged. It's caused by connecting the signal grounds to earth; small differences in earth potential (because of the house wiring) cause hum to appear in the signal. Only thing is, it's the same strength regardless of volume.

**HTF Ads**

Mark Romero · 10-21-2003, 05:08 AM

Allen, what is your receiver make and model?

Allen Marshall · 10-22-2003, 01:14 AM

sorry about the long response, was having trouble with my computer, i have a Yamaha HTR-5640 with an Athena Audition Series set and a piece of crap samsung DVD/VCR player (if that helps) and a tv i got in 1992.

Allen Marshall · 10-22-2003, 01:27 AM

my system breaks down if you look at it wrong, i can kind of narrow down what speaker it is when the reciever turns off and then i turn it back on and it says Check SP wires so i'll change sound modes or turn the other one's off to find the problem, but man i go through so much crap, the other day i kept trying to plug in my center speaker wire over and over again at the speaker and the reciever, nothing was working so i finally snipped the wire at both ends make some wire slack and hooked it up and it started working again which is all good and gravy cause that was the day i got the matrix reloaded and i had to fix it before i watched it, well now...my left AND right speaker are messed are making my reciever turn off nobody even touched them, nobody was home, i just came home and i decided to watch Anger Management and.....nothing, and i still havent fixed it yet caus its a b**** sometimes

Allen Marshall · 10-22-2003, 01:31 AM

further more it pushes me to the ceiling, i mean i was so mad the other day im like "yesss, gonna watch the matrix reloaded, booya" then the reciever broke down and im like "boohoo" took me like 2 hours to finally figure it out, before when it said CHECK SP WIRES i'd always just tighten my wires has hard as i could and it would go away,

chung_sotheby · 10-22-2003, 02:18 PM

There are three common causes of hiss:
RF Noise - Probably not this, since I am guessing that your receiver and speakers and cabling have relatively good shielding
Grounding Problems - Either the outlet is not grounded right or sometimes your cable is not grounded right. If you have a coaxial line going into any part of your system, there is usally a good hum or hiss coming from it because it is not on the same grounding plate as the rest of your house's electrical outlets. Try screwing out your cable feed while the system is on and see if this does anything to the hiss
Halogen Lamps - If you have any lamps with a dimmer in the same electrical system with your audio system, then this could cause the hum or hiss.