Hiss, hum bad for speakers?

Argent:

I have the same problem: constant low level hiss/hum coming through my speakers as long as my REL subwoofers (Ihave 2) are on and connected to my amp, even when my amplifier is off. If I turn my RELs off, the hiss/hum goes away. My entire system is on one circuit, so I don't think the problem is ground loop, and I have tried cheater plugs to no avail. Perhaps we should discuss this off line, if no response appears here that turns out to help us both. Maybe we compare notes and figure out a solution.

R. Yee

Are you talking about a clearly audible (loud) hum, or is this something where you have to place your ear close to the speaker to hear? It's a rare system that doesn't produce some of the latter, but the former should be addressed. It's probably not hurting anything, but it certainly won't help your enjoyment of music. I suggest you check the REL connections at the amp and make sure your power cords aren't touching any signal carrying cables.

In my experience, a hum is almost universally associated with a ground loop. Do you have a cable TV or satellite system hooked up to your system? Have you tried to drive your REL from the preamp instead of using the high level connections at the amp?

No cable or satellite hookup, just DVD and CD. I could run the REL from the preamp, but that would activate the bass management and would not be true analog. And yes, the hum/hiss is loud enough to hear from my sitting position. The high level cable from the REL is not really touching any power cords.

How do you connect your sub ? from preamp using RCA terminated cable(s) ? Or from amp using speaker cable(s)?

Either case, replace them with the shielded one.