2. amps-preamps
  3. 1340246472

Will An Attenuator Help Reduce This Hiss?

i've got a little bit of tweeter 'HASSSHHHH' that i'm looking to reduce. as soon as i turn on the amp and preamp it becomes audible. placing the preamp into standby, mute, or on an unused input does nothing to change the level. changing the volume of the preamp does nothing to change the level. the only thing i've found that changes it is fully powering down the preamp - this eliminates it entirely.

i've been advised to insert a line level attenuator (endler, goldenjack, etc) between the amp and preamp at the amp inputs to bleed off some gain and reduce this noise.

will an attenuator reduce the 'HASSSHHHH' sound when reducing the level, or even muting the preamp, does not change things at all?

thanks for any inputs,
Scott
128x128srosenberg

Showing 3 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,575 posts
 
Scott, you will need less gain in the amplifier. Most preamps have gain after the volume control and if you have high efficiency speakers this is a common problem. An attenuator is one solution but I think you will find that it degrades the sound in other ways. There may well be other solutions...
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,575 posts
 
Seems to me that the McCormick has about 30db of gain. This is going to be a bit of a trick.

Do you know how much output your source has? Is is enough to drive the amp directly?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,575 posts
 
Hi Al, one of the things that causes confusion is the difference between PVCs and TVCs, and the various configurations of each and their interactions with the preamp, cables and amplifier.

The result is there is no single exact solution for every situation, often thus resulting in loss of bass, perhaps brightness, loss of dynamics, etc. One has to be careful!
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