Are there ANY hiss-free 5.1 sets?

J

Janzki

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Jan 13, 2007
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I'm getting so frustrated. It seems every 5.1 computer speaker set I try has a hissing problem. Logitech Z-5400s I could hear to the other side of the room when nothing was playing (plus the subwoofer had a funky hum). Got a Teufel CEM PE set to replace them. A little better, but I could still hear the hiss to ~0.5m.

Now I have the Z-5500s on order. I suspect I'm going to have to return them too, so suggestions for "silent" speakers would be welcome. :rolleyes:
 
Sure you don't have Tinnitus? :p

Ever try Klipsch? Are we going for computer speakers, or like shelf speakers for different uses? Might also want to look into replacing stock wires with nice, high-quality, pure copper ones, maybe Monster cables, etc.
 
My ears should be okay. :p

I've seen Klipsch mentioned often, but they're not available over here. I don't have the budget for a real hifi solution. Good-sounding computer speakers under $400 would be enough.
 
Unplug your speakers from any sound source and turn them up, if you hear the hissing then it's not the speakers probably the amp in your setup or ground noise. If it's not then it's your sound card signal which can be one tricky bitch to fix. But i know how fraustrating that can be, i have a reciever with 4 15's hooked up to it and when there is no sound in a movie the subs have a humming that is annoying, but when there is noise it's loud. My klipsch pro media's 5.1 have a hiss when turned up really loud with no sound also, but it's so little it doesn't bother me. Might be interested in selling mine if the price is right, wanting to go with another reciever/amp setup for surrounds.
 
Seems like you have some type of problem. My spekaers are DEAD quiet until I put a signal to them. I think it may also be your soundcard. What are you using for a soundcard?
Ganted sometimes with these higher power spekers you can hear the noise floor when they are cranked but it shouldn't be audible at normal listening levels
 
I've tried with both onboard AC97 and X-Fi XtremeGamer, but the hiss is there even when no sound inputs are connected.
 
My sub has a low hum, and everyone said it's probably a grounding issue. The speakers don't hiss though.
 
My z5500 system doesn't hiss with my X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS, but I replaced all of the cables with higher quality ones.
 
If you want quality sound I think your gonna find some sort of hissing here and there depending on the speakers. The hissing sound comes from from a lot of wattage running through your speakers, my 1000 watt 5.1 z-680's hiss, but when I game/music/DVD I dont hear any hissing, just turn up the volume. If you dont want hissing then get some el cheapo 100 watt or less system.
 
blackinches uses the old klipsch 5.1 setup without any hissing problems. also do not get monster cables. they are all hype and not worth the money.
 
just an FYI, i turned my X 530 logitech kit up to full to see if there was hiss right now, and there is none :D and they sound pretty nice too :) nothing like klipsch's or logitech z5500's in terms of quality, but there is no hiss or buzz :D
 
9 out of 10 times the humming or hissing we hear from speakers have nothing to do the soundcard or the speakers. It's due to dirty supply power or ground loop problems.
 
Maybe you forgot to mute the microphone setting in the volume control panel?

I would also use that x-fi sound card. It has a lower noise floor than just about every onboard sound solution that I have tried.
 
Hissing is most likely not due to speakers.

Most likely culprit is either a ground problem in your room or the soundcard you have is just plain poor or noisy.
 
Possibly electrical interference... there are those monster power outlets that reduce that. I think?
 
I have Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultras with Replaced Sats (Reference Series RSX-4, Nice ass speakers that sound amazing and impress me continually, Every klipsch owner should buy these off ebay as they sell wholesale all the time)

X-Fi fatality FPS --- Doesnt hiss at all even when up at 80 I can BARELY hear anything but a small barely audible hiss..
.
Other then that completely clear of interference for the most part to my satisfaction, I just moved in last 3 months, prior to moving I lived at moms with wire that had been redone in past 7 years, lesser hiss there but for the most part the same..



I really reccomend klipsch, Etc.
U get what you pay for in the end... I guess.

I am very happy with this, And also when I plug expensive high end cans (Audio technica japan import wooden series, Etc) I get very little to no hiss at all max gain on outputs.

Worth noting that I do have minor tinnitus in total silence but overally I fully believe my hearing is still great and I am 20, Turning 21 on the 7th of April for mentionable sake, Incase anyone wishes to say Happy bday :p *cough lonely*
 
cide_ said:
I have Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultras with Replaced Sats (Reference Series RSX-4, Nice ass speakers that sound amazing and impress me continually, Every klipsch owner should buy these off ebay as they sell wholesale all the time)
Click to expand...


u replaced the sats with the RSX-4? how much bigger are they? and is the Klipsch Ultra sub able to provide enough power for it?
 
naro said:
u replaced the sats with the RSX-4? how much bigger are they? and is the Klipsch Ultra sub able to provide enough power for it?
Click to expand...

My brother had the Klipsch B2 bookshelf speakers (twice larger than the RSX4) hooked up to the fronts of the Klipsch 5.1 Ultra and it worked flawlessly. The amp probably puts out like 60w per channel, this is more than enough for the similarly sensitive RSX4.
 
I stopped in at Magnolia Audio Video earlier today and went to listen to some of their speakers and just so you know... every speaker setup at some volume point has hissing.

I was hearing McIntosh Preamp/Amps with Martin Logan speakers making hissing noises when turned up and I've heard hissing from my setup in the past if I turn them up.

My best guess is make sure you have a good source. Sound Blaster Audigy or better.

Then check your power. Live in a big city? That would be the problem quite possibly.

And lastly make sure your speakers aren't turned up all the way. If you can't stand the hiss at your listening level, then you need more powerful (and quality) speakers. I'd try the Klipsch Promedia 2.1's (older style) or moving up to a real stereo if you really have a problem with hissing.

My 2 cents
 
Pinipig523 said:
My brother had the Klipsch B2 bookshelf speakers (twice larger than the RSX4) hooked up to the fronts of the Klipsch 5.1 Ultra and it worked flawlessly. The amp probably puts out like 60w per channel, this is more than enough for the similarly sensitive RSX4.
Click to expand...


how much bigger is the RSX4 compared to the Klipsch ULtra 5.1 sats??
 
I cant find any compare pictures but lets say the RSX5 Sats are twice as high, five times as heavy, twice as wide, and from front to back -- twice as thick.

When I got them in mail I was really surprised about the size of them, they are huge compared to the Promedia sats.


I heard from a retailer at high end audio gear store that sells mcintosh etc, That the Promedia 5.1 sub is compared to klipsch high end 600$ sub.. now he said the sattalites are filler product for this series and that most of the cost was for the amp build. It can output a pretty mean signal to any speaker, 60 watt per channel is nothing to laugh at...>


So the RSX5 sound SOO clear, The only thing the sub does is add a crossover lowpass cuttoff and filters those sub lows to the sub, To give you a general idea of how well it keeps up it keeps up very well, I am hard pressed to find a better audio solution for under 1500$ --- I always wanan upgrade but t

here is no alternative rite now.


The sub bass level is set to -9 Rite now, To give you an idea of balance, 0 is TOO loud for the setting I have, Which is a hollow basement with great acoustics, The low overpowers the speakers at 0, -6, even -8 is perfect for almost everything.

Buy them you wont regret it http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/338661.aspx

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/338661.aspx

sorry.. heres a thread about ppl discussing the upgrade
 
if I have line-in, CD, or Mic unmuted on the playback mixer I get hiss. Try making sure those lines are muted if you're not using them. If nothing fixes it, then as said before it's probably the source.
 
My 5500's are pretty hissy even without any inputs in them.

They're worse with my onboard, of course.

But even if I take out the inputs, they're still pretty bad. Not overly bad, but it's not a hiss that gets louder with volume (until it gets REALLY loud, then it gets louder).

its a constant hiss.
 
My mid-range stereo setup with a Marantz receiver and a Marantz DVD player as a source still produces hiss when you start to turn it up and there's a quiet part in a song.

Hiss is a natural thing that happens for most stereos. The only exception would be a all digital setup which I could not even tell you if those are out yet....
 
Well there is a different type of hiss when you are playing a song. That depends on the Mp3 itself. If you find a quiet part in a song, and it's hissing you find, try pausing it. You will see it will more than likely disappear.

Mostly caused by poor quality mp3s. If it's a CD, it just might be that way for that song. Some producers compress the quality of the musicians songs in a rather bad way.
 
chaikovski2002 said:
If you want quality sound I think your gonna find some sort of hissing here and there depending on the speakers. The hissing sound comes from from a lot of wattage running through your speakers, my 1000 watt 5.1 z-680's hiss, but when I game/music/DVD I dont hear any hissing, just turn up the volume. If you dont want hissing then get some el cheapo 100 watt or less system.
Click to expand...

The Z-680s have a significant hissing problem due to a faulty pre-amplifier in the decoder unit that was supposedly fixed in the Z-5500. It's not power related.

Pinipig523 said:
My brother had the Klipsch B2 bookshelf speakers (twice larger than the RSX4) hooked up to the fronts of the Klipsch 5.1 Ultra and it worked flawlessly. The amp probably puts out like 60w per channel, this is more than enough for the similarly sensitive RSX4.
Click to expand...


Yeah...you don't need much power to get those little satellites running, especially with a 120hz crossover. 99% of the time you are running under 1 W of power.

azulcorvette said:
I stopped in at Magnolia Audio Video earlier today and went to listen to some of their speakers and just so you know... every speaker setup at some volume point has hissing.
Click to expand...

You must have really turned it up! Receivers with decent pre-amp units should not exhibit much noise until well past 70% volume.

Most multimedia speaker setups have really, really, crappy pre-amps. The kind of continuous white noise is like the backlight buzz you get from large LCD TVs (equal in annoyance).
 
To be honest,
I have had a set of Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultra's since the month they came out.

Prior to that I had 2 Dead sets of Regular Klipsch Promedia 5.1's, Eventually I Rma'd it and they gave me the Ultra's and I love them, Several years later.

I remember being 16, walking into a Hifi store and buying the Klipsch's when they we're basically order-only speakers, And paying 680$ Cash.

They crank up to 80 on the Pod with no Hiss, Feedback or anything. At least this was in my old chassis which was a thermaltake xaser Skull, Fully EMI Shielded. I havnt tested with my new rig yet.

They just sound phenominal with really worked in RSX-4's - I really hope this amp continues to last

There has been many times I thought it was dead but it was just software issues, Plagued by terrible drivers for my X-fi that bugged out multiple times. When these speakers finally do bite the bucket I will be switching over to a pure class A amplifier, that does nothing but amplify a signal, Perhaps a mackintosh - Powering some tower Klipsch speakers, or perhaps studio monitors from Mackie.

:)

I dunno what klipsch is even selling these days,
Can you still buy Promedia 5.1 Ultras (IMHO Beat the shit out of any logitech speaker ever)
 
You could create a package out of M-Audio or Mackie studio monitors (I have M-Audio BX8's in a 2.0 setup, but you can create a 5.1 package out of them) and run balanced out's from a professional soundcard and get a close to zero hum as I think you could get (if you go with their new ones that have 24/192 DACs built in, you might even get zero. With my setup and the speakers at 1/4 volume the only way you hear anything is if you put your ear inside the cone of the woofer. Now this would be a very expensive setup and you'd probably be better off just buying separate speakers and a receiver.
 
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