If it makes you feel better, I hear the same type of hiss about 1 ft away from my SS pre when I turn the volume up enough. From my listening position it's inaudble, but I know it's there. I think it might be a characteristic of all systems. The only times I've heard a truly "black" background were in systems with monster monoblock amps (500+ watts) that were just loafing along. It's one of the benefits of headroom. The other spot to look is the recording. Some Cd's seem to be louder then others and don't need to be turned up as high, and thus, less hiss.
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