I put on a bunch of DVD's and put my ear right up to the center channel and I couldnt hear the "crackly" noise. I also cant hear it when I watch TNTHD, HBOHD, ShowtimeHD, Starz or any other channel that broadcast in Dolby. The only time I seem to hear it is on the Network Channels. Like last night ABCHD was showing finding Nemo and the sound was "crackly". I guess its just the network broadcast in my area?