I can hear some hiss (amp on but all controls set at zero) if I put my ear right up to the speaker grill, but it's dead quiet from 2 feet away off-axis - definately one of the quietest amps I've ever owned. By the way, I'm convinced that there's an undocumented noise gate built in to the amp. Mine was bought in December of 2005. Maybe they took the noise gate out sometime after that?