Davis: Are you sure the hiss is a hiss and not a humm? Does it still make the noise when nothing is connected to the 950 but the amp? If so, your problem might be humm and not hiss.

In the following test, the volume knob is kept at -25 dB on the red dot 950. With the amplifier on and the 950 powered off, there's amplifier hiss (or hum?) at about 3 inches from the speakers. I have a Sunfire Cinema Grand amp and unfortunately, it does hiss (or hum).

When the 950 powers on, initially there's almost NO additional hiss compared to the amp all by itself. The 950 turns on in a digital mode. But, when stereo bypass is subsequently engaged, there is more hiss. The hiss can be heard from over a foot from the speakers. The hiss comes from the center channel speaker too. When a digital mode is subsequently engaged (and stereo bypass disengaged), the hiss does not go away, it stays the same. At least that's what happens on my system. I have to emphasize once again that I cannot hear any hiss from my regular listening position since it's too far away.


So, maybe (?) I don't have a defective red-dot 950 afterall.. ??

I agree with those who say the 950 sounds good with regular CD's. Really good. Even loud it sounds good. I love to crank it up and listen. With the red dot 950 though, cranking it puts the volume above 0 dB, but it still sounds good. (Wish there was more crank headway though).

I have my mains crossed over at 40 Hz, my surrounds at 60 Hz and the center at 80 Hz (but I'm still experimenting).

I used to think DTS NEO:6-M sounded better than DPL II-M for regular CD's but now I am not so sure... Again, still experimenting.

Will,
Your headroom would be a function of the amp, but I'm curious, what is the upper limit of the potentiometer on the 950?

Do they still use pots? I'd have thought it was an encoder by now.

The voltage coming from the pre/pro gets amplified by the amp. The original 950 was louder, at the 0 dB volume point, than the red dot 950, when playing the same CD on the same CD player...

I think the point is that typically the limit is found in the amps' clipping level before you 'run out of knob' on the preamp.

Thanks guys,
It looks like Scott answered this question. He says they have lowered it by 3 db. That shouldn't be an issue if as Charlie says, "You run out of Amp before you run out of knob." It might depend on the amp though, like some ultra high wattage pro amps or Crowns, or how about the Sampson 1000 that SVS uses? I am curious to know though if this is one component of the hiss fix.

Will- You might try bumping up the crossovers you have by 20 Hz each. For a crossover at 40 Hz, that's implying that your mains are -3 dB at 20 Hz, and that's kind of rare... But your ears have to be the judge.

That's what I thought at first as well.

Consequently, with my old 950, I put the crossover at 80 Hz. Then later, I tried 60 Hz and found I liked the sound better. Then much later, I subsequently put the crossover at 40 Hz just to see what it was like, and found I like the sound even better. This is for 2 channel stereo mode. Admittedly, I did not hear that much of an improvement going from 60 to 40 in some of the multichannel modes like DTS NEO 6. But I do think there was a significant improvement in going from 60 to 40 Hz in stereo -- note the subwoofer is still active in stereo mode in the 950 since the mains are set to small.

My mains are Von Schweikert VR 4 Gen II's.

I did not like what happened with the center channel when I lowered its crossover frequency. When the center channel crossover was lowered, the center channel speaker, which sits on top of the RPTV, sounded a bit boomy. I am not done experimenting with it, though.

My center is a small Von Schweikert speaker center.

If the -3db is an issue it seems like one could go into the calibration screen and bump everything up 3db.....

OTOH if you calibrate a specific volume stting to be a specific SPL with a meter there should be no overall gain difference between the two when you're done.