Nick, I don't have a problem with hiss. When listening to LPs I normally have the volume setting between -40 dB and -20 dB depending on the type of music (and what mood I'm in), although that doesn't produce very high sound levels because my speakers aren't particularly efficient. If I turn up the volume with nothing playing and put my ear close to the speaker then I can definitely hear some noise, although it seems to me to be more weighted towards bass than white noise would be. (By contrast when I have a digital input selected I can't hear any noise at all.) But in normal use when there's music playing I don't notice anything unusual, even in quiet passages - I guess that means the inherent noise level in my configuration/system is well below what's on the vinyl album itself.
That said, there's a wide range of reports about phono stage hiss that don't seem to correlate fullly with the sensitivity of the cartridge being used. It's possible that some people are much more sensitive to it than others -- particularly once you've noticed it, it can become something you can't "un-hear" -- and it's also possible that there is some variation in the actual noise level between different amplifiers.
That said, there's a wide range of reports about phono stage hiss that don't seem to correlate fullly with the sensitivity of the cartridge being used. It's possible that some people are much more sensitive to it than others -- particularly once you've noticed it, it can become something you can't "un-hear" -- and it's also possible that there is some variation in the actual noise level between different amplifiers.
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
