dead quiet

I can put my ear right against the speaker grill with the preamp in the phono position with the volume control at the normal listening level for lp's and hear absolutely nothing at all. Even if I turn up the volume control, it still remains silent. I have no power conditioner.

...except that noise, hiss, hum, growling, yodeling, etc. marks its imprint on the total sound. I had a Grado Sonata in a Rega P-25 that hummed ever so slightly - I couldn't hear the hum when the record was playing. When I learned how to get rid of the hum..at least lower it, the result was much better in the overall presentation.

Atmasphere..Yes I know now, and that's what I was saying. With the slight hum gone(and no one could tell it was humming unless I brought it to their attention) the sound field had greater depth, air, clarity, etc. that we all like.

Eldarford...I don't think efficiency has anything to do with it...that's just an adjustment on the volume control. If there is a 60 cycle wave running through the music, it will lay its' imprint on all frequencies in the music..especially on the over and undertones of 60 cycles.

Eldarford... The object of the game here in Audiophilia, is to get the purest signal devoid of any artifacts of any kind. One of the reasons that a 15000 dollar amp is better than a 1500 dollar amp is that the parts are better...that is faster (don't hold on to the signal as long), wider, and smoother bandwidth, etc. A component is said to be good when it passes only the intended replication of (let's say the violin). When the purity of the violin's E-string has a 60 cycle modulating tone along with it...it ain't so pure. One of the things that good stereo systems do is to stop playing...that is - there are silences between the notes. Hum and noise simply fills in those silences and blurs things. A very important spec specified on evalutaion sheets is the hum/noise level below signal. No - I must stand by my statement above.

Actually, Eldarford..yes. When a tuba plays a 60 Hz. tone, it is resonated on the box and in the string of the violin...that's why playing "in tune" is so important when playing in an orchestra... a tone that "rubs" against the harmonic tones of the rest of the players makes people wince. That is also why most violin concertos are in D...because the other strings will resonate and strengthen the open strings...E, A, D, G,. In stereo system, you want NOTHING to detract from the original event...it's not like playing the violin since then you are constructing your own event...the event becomes truth. That's the meaning of high fidelity...truth to the original event. Hum and noise ain't an original event.

..Eldarford...not if you're a Tibetan monk...