dead quiet

Bd,

"dead quiet" IS possible...but the natural limitations of the equipment itself will always generate some sort of a wave / footprint. This is inherent wihin the materials/parts used in electronics. As simple as this sounds...if you increase your vol to around 3/4 max output and not be able to disern "annoying" sounds (hiss, hum, etc..) you are fine. Some of the most romantic tubed gear will do this (granted, on a relatively small scale)..but the music produced on these machines is breathtaking regardless.

Stringreen....Inaudible signal affects the music signal?? Not likely. But if this is true it is an argument for LOW efficiency speakers, where the inaudible signal is more dB down from the music.

If a very weak 60 Hz signal affects the rest of the spectrum what happens when the music has a strong 60 Hz tone??

Another case of IAP :-)

Atmasphere..Yes I know now, and that's what I was saying. With the slight hum gone(and no one could tell it was humming unless I brought it to their attention) the sound field had greater depth, air, clarity, etc. that we all like.

Eldarford...I don't think efficiency has anything to do with it...that's just an adjustment on the volume control. If there is a 60 cycle wave running through the music, it will lay its' imprint on all frequencies in the music..especially on the over and undertones of 60 cycles.

I hope the OP is getting something from this discussion . . . I certainly am, and appreciate all of the comments.

To be precise, from my listening chair and indeed from 2-3 ft away from my speakers, my analog rig is *dead quiet*. But if I am overcome by "irrational audiophile paranoia" and put my ear to the speakers, my analog usually has more hum/hiss than my cd player depending on the cartridge I'm using. My noisiest cartridge may indeed be audible from 2-3 ft if I crank the volume.

I caught this thread a little late,so I apologize if my point has been mentioned...

From my experience(and I'm sure others)the "dead quietness" issue is "dramatically" affected by the actual room itself!!

This is emphasized whenever I make my trips to Brooklyn,NY where two audio pals live(Sid and Ed).

Both have "dead quiet systems"...BUT... they both have different listening room "quietness levels"!!

Sid lives on a quiet block(like me)and the noise floor of his superb room allows for ALL the detail,and tonality of his "amazing" LP collection to be appreciated!Except for the occassional garbage truck passing by -:)

Ed lives in an apartment building,and although on the 22nd floor,the highway noise below,coupled with a noisey building/neighbors absolutely "devastates" a decent listening session!His magnificent/dynamic/dead quiet componentry is wasted...."during the daytime"!

In truth,from what I observe,he is almost unaware of the problem,because he's lived there for SO long!
At night it is a different story altogether.Then one can appreciate the "almost dead quietness" of his set-up.

I am lucky(big time)to have a purpose built dedicated room,which is basically adjoined to my home,on one side.This means I am not bothering family members with volume,and the closest neighbor is 100 feet away.

My noise floor is SO low,my friends kind of make fun of the situation,but this is definitely useful in getting the best from a good set-up.No extraneous noises,and easy to listen for problematic system voicings.There is a downside here....
There IS a real problem(not kidding,actually)for "this" kind of low room noise floor...

You cannot tolerate "any" additional noise,after living in this type of situation,so something like a "tradeshow" is torture!!One can get a bit too picky quite easily,but it's easy to get used to....Those of you in similar situations know this already -:)

Best