this is to adress the statement that Gmood1 posted wattage of an amplifier does not directly affect how quiet an amplifier is but common sense tells you that if there is a slight noise (hum, buzz, ect.) at lower volume levels that when you increase the signal strength (ie. crank the volume) the signal(that buzz, hum) increases in volume. And to further elaborate on his posting amps usually are not noisy unless they are hooked up improperly, are hooked up with subpar cables and interconnects, or there are wiring issues with your place of establishment (as I stated before possibly a bad ground) A battery power source would be a way to isolate the system but there are more effective ways to do this like an A/C line conditioner. One can be picked up relatively inexpensively. I hope you get the buzz out of your system Greg