How Much Hiss Is Normal?

Nothing is perfect, not even amplifiers. As long as you don't hear the hiss from your listening position, forget about it and enjoy the music.

Over the years I've owned many different combinations of amps, preamps and more recently several integrateds. Slight hiss or hum at speakers is not abnormal. Some amps had more than others but I wouldn't necessarily correlate the amount of noise with sonic quality once the music starts.

Swap the two speakers and see where the hiss goes. That will tell you if the spkeaker itself is to blame or amp (more likely). As others said, if you can't hear it from your normal position it is not a problem.

I have a vandersteen sub and Meridian active speakers that occasionally pick up some hum or hiss, but it's never a problem when listening. I've found that in my house, the source is the wall power and have dealt with it via power conditioning. You might try some power condition (on a test basis--don't buy unless it works). This could be hash on your AC line. A surge suppressor might even be contributing depending on the circuitry in the suppressor. Good luck and don't sweat it.

If you have tube equiptment, a hum is all to common. Even you can hear noise from SS amps. The king of hiss is my beloved Reel to reel 4 track. However, if it does not interfere with your listening experience I wouldn't worry about it.