Amplifier white noise? Not an electrical hum - I'm at a loss

Mdp632

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2016
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Posting here but, I'm not positive its amplifier related. But, here it goes. Hoping for some good feedback.

I own a DMA-260S2 but, started to notice and I'm not sure if I ever heard this or noticed before.

But, my system; whenever the amp is on and even if I have the pre-amp (Spectral) muted and on zero volume.

I have a faint white noise coming from my speakers.

Obviously, that noise floor is taking away from my quest to lower it and get better sound.

Any ideas on where to start troubleshooting?

My Spectral friend @ack thoughts?

Thanks
 
Last edited:

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
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Ouch. Disconnect the interconnects from the amp and try again. If it persists it’s the amp. If not, try different interconnects, just in case they are picking up noise; if not, then the preamp becomes suspect. See if you can plug in any source directly to the amp. If it goes away then the preamp is really suspect.
 
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Folsom

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How close to you have to be to the speakers, and what speakers?
 

Mdp632

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2016
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How close to you have to be to the speakers, and what speakers?

I have to put my ear up to the speakers to hear it. So, almost touching. It's faint but, noticeable.

Speakers are YG Carmel 2
 

Folsom

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Oh, don't worry about it then. It doesn't mean anything.
 

Gregadd

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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OCDO. As the joke goes,Dr. it hurts when I do that...
Turn your volume to its' normal listening position. Is it audible from the listening position? If not it is OK.
If you are still annoyed, it is pretty simple to find the culprit. If you have a friend just stick it in his system. Or take it to your dealer. Sometimes components only misbehave whe paired wiyh others.
Once you have identified the villain fixing it is another matter. Is it an inherent flaw? I doubt it. It could be a malfunction. If you bought it used you might want to have it spec'd out. A good idea for expensive used equipment. It could be RFI. Repositioning your equipment might help. Make sure all your connections are clean andd tight.

Good luck.
 

Gregadd

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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"Speakers are YG Carmel 2"
Luv those speakers.
 

Folsom

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Oct 25, 2015
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It's normal for amplifier to give a little whisper at the speaker with your ear against it. A lot of the most loved amplifiers in the world give a slightly louder whisper, but none that are made correctly give it to you at the listening position. There's no objective of subjective reason to try to correct this since it doesn't change the music you hear, and you can't hear it unless you're trying to nuzzle the cone with your ear.
 

Gregadd

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Well I agree but it is clearly bothering him.
 
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Folsom

VIP/Donor
Oct 25, 2015
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It bothers people because they think it affects the music. It doesn't. I've read a verbal sea of ridiculous wholly unsupported paranoia over the subject. Now I don't dance around the subject, there's only one thing to do about it - forget it.

Besides if an amplifier has nothing at all, it likely has a mute function that engages with no signal - in other words when music is playing it is present.
 

Blackmorec

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2019
748
1,273
213
Posting here but, I'm not positive its amplifier related. But, here it goes. Hoping for some good feedback.

I own a DMA-260S2 but, started to notice and I'm not sure if I ever heard this or noticed before.

But, my system; whenever the amp is on and even if I have the pre-amp (Spectral) muted and on zero volume.

I have a faint white noise coming from my speakers.

Obviously, that noise floor is taking away from my quest to lower it and get better sound.

Any ideas on where to start troubleshooting?

My Spectral friend @ack thoughts?

Thanks
Trouble shooting noise.

1 Does it change with volume?
Yes...the noise is in the preamp or sources....look there...
No....then the noise is downstream of the preamp

2. Does the noise appear equally in both channels?
No....one channel is louder....... does it change sides if you reverse the speaker cables...if yes
then the problem is one of your amp channels

Yes....it’s equally loud in both channels.....likely its quiescent noise coming from your amp as it idles
3. Can you hear it from your listening position
No......then stop paying it any attention...its normal and not actually harming your listening pleasure.
Yes....notes fade into this noise instead of into silence...if this is the case, check other similar amps and if yours is worse, have your dealer or manufacturer check your amp with the goal of removing the noise.
 

Mdp632

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2016
431
140
173
Trouble shooting noise.

1 Does it change with volume?
Yes...the noise is in the preamp or sources....look there...
No....then the noise is downstream of the preamp

2. Does the noise appear equally in both channels?
No....one channel is louder....... does it change sides if you reverse the speaker cables...if yes
then the problem is one of your amp channels

Yes....it’s equally loud in both channels.....likely its quiescent noise coming from your amp as it idles
3. Can you hear it from your listening position
No......then stop paying it any attention...its normal and not actually harming your listening pleasure.
Yes....notes fade into this noise instead of into silence...if this is the case, check other similar amps and if yours is worse, have your dealer or manufacturer check your amp with the goal of removing the noise.

Thank you. As per your statement I highlighted above and after the other troubleshooting provided by other members.

More than likely, I'm just hearing the amp noise floor as it idles.
 

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