I think it's the Depth. 14" is pretty deep on a desk, and mine is a bit narrow to begin with.

Yep agreed, they're way too big for your desk Dinny! Better sell them.

Heh. I've had a migraine the last two days, so I haven't been able to set them up to test. Hopefully tonight. Then decisions will be made. We'll probably just get a bigger desk.

..... We'll probably just get a bigger desk.

Good man!

We're ll probably just get going to need a bigger desk. boat

Such a good movie. Such a good line.

Hooked up. I've got some very low level buzz in both and the right channel seems a little lower than the left.

1) how much buzz is normal, if any? These are placed on either side of the iMac and there're electronics everywhere of course.

2) the channel imbalance is probably fine as I can volume match, but does this sound indicative of a larger problem?

Setup is iMac to PWD to SkipJack to Quads. I am aware that the skipjack could be an issue so I will get it out of the chain. After I do something else to distract me from this fucking headache.

Ok ruled out SkipJack. And the buzz/hum is much less when no source attached. Ground loop?

They sound pretty good.

Are these supposed to be dead quiet, or is hiss to be expected? This is a bit disappointing and I'm wondering if I got Shelly's pair.

I remember talking to Nate about hiss. I have some low level hiss in my pair as well. He suggested something like this: Perma Power AVR-1200 Voltage Regulator Surge Suppressor - eBay (item 290409049224 end time May-12-10 06:59:43 PDT) or a Powervar Isolated Power Supply. I haven't had a chance to give either a try yet, so maybe Nate can chime in here.

Cool, thanks. I did shoot a PM to Nate (as I always do when something gets squirrelly in my rig ). And Shelly has also been a big help in quantifying what might be an "Acceptable" amount of hiss. I think I may just have to accept the fact that these things have pretty big amps jammed up their rears, so some low-level hiss may be part of life. As these will be going in the nascent office rig (iPad-->Pico amp/DAC-->Quads), I can live with this amount of hiss provided that it's within "normal" limits--whatever the hell that means.

I cannot hear hiss when listening to music. It does bother me a bit more than slightly win nothing is playing.

Always have something playing then!

I cannot hear hiss when listening to music. It does bother me a bit more than slightly win nothing is playing.

Maybe you should

Just shut up and listen to the beautiful beautiful music.

Hard to argue with that.

FWIW, I have the gain on my 12Ls set to about the midpoint, and I get no hiss at all. They're connected via a balanced cable to my AR LS-9 pre, which is usually fed by my Q99 CDP-2. Both speakers are fed power via a Monster power conditioner using Quail power cables. Nothing terribly fancy, but I get no hum. I have them on and I can hear my laptop's HDD clicking away when I have no music playing. Mine are the only 12Ls I have ever heard, but it seems to me that they should be dead silent at normal listening levels. I hope you can sort it out, Dinny.

I have a slight hiss from mine that is not source related. Adjusting the gain does make it in increase/decrease. I didn't notice it till reading this and putting my ear right next to the tweeter. I do have a A/C unit that is constantly running so I would never have noticed it otherwise.

Ok ruled out SkipJack. And the buzz/hum is much less when no source attached. Ground loop?

They sound pretty good.

Mine are the same way at midpoint Dinny. I have mine hooked through the brickwall power protector as well.

Yeah, they're gonna be ok. Nice speakers.

Dammit!

I think a pair of piano Black gloss are in my future.

I have a very low level hiss to mine as well but it's there regardless of their gain settings and only noticeable if I'm right next to the speaker. I have them connected to my iMac via optical and my Benchmark via balanced. I usually just set their volume to the midpoint indent and use the Benchmark's volume from there. I definitely don't notice it when playing music and I'm not that concerned really as they sound fine when playing music at all levels.

Bill

Not sure if it's been posted, but....

Quad 9L Active Desktop Loudspeaker (Playback 30) | AVguide

^If I can find a pair of those used, oh boy...

But they are so small.