Bookshelf speaker - tweeter hiss?

fuzzymath10

Senior member
Feb 17, 2010
520
2
81
I recently got a pair of Kanto Yumi speakers for a good price based on quite favourable reviews. Unfortunately, they seem to have this issue where certain kinds of sound result in the tweeters making an odd fuzz/hiss noise at lower volumes.

At zero volume, there's no hiss. At very low volume (listening at <6"), there's no hiss. Slightly higher volume (listening at maybe 6-12"), the hissing kicks in at certain parts of music, especially instrumental. At higher volumes, it gets drowned out unless there's quieter parts. The hiss volume does not vary with volume.

Any ideas? I've tried the 3.5mm and RCA inputs from a variety of good quality consumer sources (a creative zen xfi, ipod touch, m-audio usb sound card). I'm not convinced that the optical input would make a difference but I'm working on getting a cable for testing.

The same analog sources run fine on my Yamaha RX-V667 + KEF speakers at any volume, with no hissing.
 

DesiPower

Lifer
Nov 22, 2008
15,299
740
126
Sounds like bad speaker to me. I experience that if source is bad, but since you already tried different sources it must be the speakers or the amp in-built. I would say return.