We've not noticed this at all; in fact, with the mk2 I can have my home system on maximum (80w RMS per channel) and the empeg paused and not hear *anything* out of the speakers unless I get within about 6 inches and put my ear by the tweeter.

The mk2 has a low noise floor - lower than my Sony CD player, for starters. I can't work out how you seem to be getting so much noise! If Tony doesn't notice the noise on your old unit, maybe there's something else up in your system - audio in leads maybe?

Hugo