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speaker hiss with audio aero capitole mkII

I have noticed a hiss from my egglestonworks andraII speakers that is noticeable from the listening position at the highest volume settings on the audio aero capitole mkII. The hissing comes from both the tweeter and the twin mid-range drivers from both speakers and is equal from both sp's. It gradually increases as the volume is turned up and is not present with the capitole turned off and the Krell fpb 300cx on. I have dedicated circuits with their own main panel and the capitole is connected to a PS audio P-300. The hiss is present also when the capitole is not connected to the P-300. I suspect that this relates to intrinsic noise or distortion in the capitole, possibly from the tubed analog output. Although the system sounds terrific, i am concerned that the hissing may be masking low level detail at moderate to high listening volumes. Has anybody had a similar experience with the capitole? Can this be improved? Any suggestions? Thanks.

Rafael
aponter4
unclejeff
1,313 posts
 
My AA Mark II is perfectly quiet when run through my McIntosh Tebe receiver and when run through my other tubed amps. Hve tried running the AA through another amp?

If you have a really good rapport with your local high end audio shop, try bringing the AA down to them and try it on a couple of amps. Just remember, there is a skrew holding the transport in place that is meant to snap if the AA Mark II is bumped during, say, shipment. The problem is easy to repair, but might be a bummer of a new problem.
golden_ears
224 posts
 
How old is the CD player? I think you can tell by the first four numbers in the serial number (0207/335 would mean July of 2002) The little tubes in the A.A. are supposed to be good for at least 10,000 hours (14 months of being on standby or in use) and that's probably a conservative estimate. The tubes would probably go bad one at at time, but I suppose both tubes could be well past their "freshness date" if the player is a couple of years old.
The player is usually very quiet.
mejames
986 posts
 
the Capital will exhibit the "pin #1 problem" with some amps with balanced cables only due to grounding issues between the components
aponter4 OP
30 posts
 
Golden ears,

The serial# is 0207/338. I can't tell the # of hrs. on the tubes 'cause i bought it from the original owner. He told me that he had put ~600 on it when i purchased it, but this may be an underestimate. Also he may have not counted stand-by time. In any case, the music is played beautifully by the capitole is just that with the music off and the volume setting at the highest levels a hissing sound is heard, not a hum. Would that be how a "bad" tube present? I really am not that experienced with tubes.

Mejames,

How can i tell if i have a "pin #1 problem"?

Thanks,

Rafael
newbee
4,767 posts
 
Are you saying that you only hear the hiss when you rotate the volume know to maximum? If so, I wouldn't worry at all. There are a lot of tubes that have a low level residual hiss - if you can hear it at normal volumes you would either have tubes that were noisy in the first place or tubes that have gone noisy after some use. Neither of these things are unusual and present no electrical problem (but be wary if you're hearing snap, crackle and pop sounds after warm up - this would indicate that you should probably replace the tubes).
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