Are Hi-Fi monitors and amplifiers crap?

[Fernando Sampaio]

Hi all, Just bought a Allen & Hetah 24 ch mixer and I`m quite disappointed to find out that my hi-fi amp + speakers are being responsible for a lot of noise!!! if I plug the headphones to the desk I can`t hear any noise at all unless I go over the +5 level on the master faders!, at the same time, with the amp+speakers I get a lot of noise and background hiss if I only go up to 10 in volume (it goes up to 100...)...is it something wrong with my cables (balanced/unbalanced...poor quality...etc)or setup or will I have to get studio reference amp + speakers?

Thanks for your help.

Cheers

Fernando

 

[RockIt Recorder]

You don't say what your amp/speakers are so who knows if they're crap? Assuming they aren't, there are a number of things that can introduce noise in the system.

Rule of thumb is the simplest solution is the right one. Murphy's Law, however, mandates that the correct solution will be the most expensive one.

The cables MAY be bad. This can mean bad connections, lousy shielding, dirty connections, any of a myriad of things...

Grounding may be an issue. This will usually result in a 60Hz hum. Look for a ground loop between components. (i.e. is the amp chassis in direct contact with the mixer chassis at any location?)

The amp may be sitting too close to a power source or some other source emitting stray EMF.

Are you located near an electrical substation? A local radio station? Any UFO's land on your roof lately? Chasing the BuzzBugs can become a sport in itself. Start with the obvious (and cheap) stuff first... replace the Amp only as a last resort.

Good Luck.

The Guitar half of RockNGunz... (from the road).