noise ..noise..noise..

this is to adress the statement that Gmood1 posted wattage of an amplifier does not directly affect how quiet an amplifier is but common sense tells you that if there is a slight noise (hum, buzz, ect.) at lower volume levels that when you increase the signal strength (ie. crank the volume) the signal(that buzz, hum) increases in volume. And to further elaborate on his posting amps usually are not noisy unless they are hooked up improperly, are hooked up with subpar cables and interconnects, or there are wiring issues with your place of establishment (as I stated before possibly a bad ground) A battery power source would be a way to isolate the system but there are more effective ways to do this like an A/C line conditioner. One can be picked up relatively inexpensively. I hope you get the buzz out of your system Greg

FWIW TWL and Gmood1's comments seem to be nearly on point....

However I cannot tell exactly what you is doing with this integrated unit when you say "I try using it as a direct amp.....try it as an int amp"..... Could you elaborate for me. Are you saying that you disconnected the amp section from the preamp section and drove the amp section with a source that had its own volume control?

Assuming that it is being used as it was intended, that is the pre-amplifier section connected to the amplifier section, what you are hearing is the residual noise level of the pre-amplifier section or the pre-amp section tubes. It doesn't make any difference whether or not the volume control is minimal or maximum as the VC preceeds the pre-amp output to the amp, in other words its out put is steady at all times. With very efficient speakers you will usually hear some hiss, especially when your ear is near the speaker. Power tubes generally do not hiss and the power section of the amp (or a seperate power amp) should be hiss/hum less under optimal circumstances.

If its a big deal for your sonically, you might try replacing the pre amp or driver tubes with some very quiet low noise tubes. It might help.

Greg ..it doesn't matter what line conditioner you buy. It will never be as quiet as a battery based power supply.
Apparently you haven't owned a very sensitive speaker. Some AC power based amplifiers have more noise than others but most do have some noise.You can put $5000 worth of cables on a big ass tube amp or SS with massive transformers on it. Hook it to a pair of 102 db sensitive speakers,and prepare to enjoy some soothing white noise or hum! The only AC power based amplifiers I've heard that are dead quiet use a muting circuit when no signal is present.This doesn't make them hiss/hum free when the musics playing though.

okie guys, i ve been going crazy with this hiss problem the past few days,yesterday i just try using the BAT vk5i pre with the amp,and now it is dead silence and sound fantastic.i just cant figure it out.the amp alone is noisy,amp plus my pre-amp doesnt change anything,still noisy,but with the BAT pre-amp(loaner) is dead silence.what is it about this bat pre-amp that can cure the problem..i am hopping if i can fix this problem without purchasing another pre-amp.thanks

Gmood1...

1...While the power capability (watts) of the amp has no direct relationship to its noise level, it does affect how the noise level is spec'd. Noise is spec'd relative to full power output. So a 60 watt amp rated at -100dB will be quieter at idle than a 600 watt amp with the same noise spec.

2...An AC powered dc supply can be as quiet as the designer cares to make it. And battery voltage has some noise on it when you draw current. The chemicals are "cooking off" to release the electrons. However, in practice battery power is a foolproof approach if the device doesn't require much power.

The noise generated by an ac supply is easily evaluated. Just pull the plug so the amp is running on the capacitors and see if the noise level changes. Make sure that you aren't hearing ground loop hum.