mmr--thanks for the reply. obviously we grew up playing the same computer games.

i do expect to hear noise, it just seems that i'm getting MORE noise from my HCH2 than other stereo systems for the same amount of amplification. usually, i would just turn down the volume on the radio and crank of the volume of the external device, but in my case i'm using my cell phone to play mp3's and it's already at max volume.