Brian: Maybe you got snakes in your basement! Ok, seriously speaking: the hiss you're hearing is totally NORMAL and just inherent in the design of the speakers. The close confines & quietness of your basement may accentuating the hiss, but you probably won't be able to decrease the hiss by changing cables. You'll notice that the hiss is even there (and does not change in volume or pitch) when the speaker cables are disconnected from the speaker, and that turning up/down the the SxA100's volume knob does not change the the hiss volume either. When I first purchased my SxA100's I was initially concerned about the hiss when up real close to the speakers. I even contacted Electro Voice as well as consulted with Uncle Dave (who also owns the SxA100's) and they assured me that the hiss is completely normal. In real life gig situations, the hiss is rarely (if ever) noticeable and has NEVER posed a problem on a gig, because you only hear it if you are up REAL CLOSE, within a few inches of the speaker. How many people sit up THAT close anyway? Hope this clears up those snakes in your basement. Happy gigging - Scott