So Weird- No Stylus Contact Woofer Pumping with Hana ML and Elac PPA-2

@holmz 

This makes zero sense to me…

Agreed

The cart is generally a thing that generates a current, and the electrical field would seem to be difficult to get into a twisted set of differential wires.

And to get enough charge on the LP to merry-go-round in a pile of electrons, and generate a magnetic field, would be difficult.

And to do it with Every LP you tried? 
 

Yes
 

And even a just with a mat alone?

Yes

And never without a mat or LP?

Never, no movement at all

I think I am back to the @lewm idea of oscillation in the phono stage. That would either need some different loading, or to block the low freq with a high pass capacitor in-line.

The PPA-2 has an 18hz Hi Pass filter which has been engaged for every experiment . It apparently does have any effect on a signal that operates as a sloping sine wave in the cycles per minute domain. I say that as a guess.

@noromance I also used an AQ anti static brush while touching the tonearm.

@bato65 I just moved into this house so it’s one thing at a time. If I were to add a central humidifier I would lose the experience of dry cracked skin, sinus trouble and static electricity discharges that leave scorch marks on my dog.

I’m thinking an SUT might be a solution. Any thoughts on that?

Pixies for sure.

since no hypothesis offered so far really holds water, who is to say that a step up transformer would not eliminate the problem? But do you wish to continue to operate in balanced mode? I thought you got rid of the problem simply by converting to single ended mode. If you are happy with single ended mode, why think about a step up transformer.?

Is it really the case that you’ve been using a hi-pass filter operating above 18Hz in all cases? You earlier stated that if you move the platter manually at sub 33 rpm, presumably at and below 18 rpm speeds, the pumping occurs with frequency proportional to platter manipulation. That seems impossible so I must misunderstand.

@mitchellcp

Your problem is definitely one of the most baffling I’ve ever read about! Wow. I’m struggling with a different but also baffling problem in my 2nd system - exceedingly loud occasional POP noises during playback - and it’s with records that don’t do that in my main system, and I’ve also swapped out just about every component trying to isolate or affect the behavior, and tried all kinds of static control measures, and power conditioning, to no avail yet. I don’t want to keep subjecting my tweeters to this crap.

It’s down to either the cartridge somehow being at fault, or the fact that my main rig’s VAC phono stage and SUT (since you mentioned SUT) is somehow protecting or not exacerbating these kinds of issues. I’ve long used a SUT in my main rig and perhaps it has some positive protective benefits beyond just the sound quality (which I also like - it adds warmth and body). Surface noise and pops have always been kept to a very reasonable minimum level in the main rig. An excellent analog experience has long been easy peasy, in that rig. I just bought the VAC phono and SUT over to the 2nd system; fingers crossed.

My issue has driven me bonkers, and I’m sure yours has done so as well. Hope we make some headway soon!

Is it possible this has something to do with the fact that the Elac PPA-2 is a somewhat different phono stage in that it has separate chassis ground and signal ground pins. The PPA-2 floats signal ground above chassis ground according to Peter Madnick in the youtube video he put out describing the PPA-2. 

@mitchellcp , I know you posted this earlier, but it bears repeating - from the manual: "However, you must be careful that the shell of the XLR is not connected directly to the ground line within the XLR connector. They SHOULD be independent. The shell is the external shield of the cable and connector, and should be the CHASSIS connection."

This implies to me that with a singled ended RCA connection, inside the PPA-2, Mr Madnick connects the RCA shields (which in the single ended configuration are connected to the negative pins on the cartridge) to the chassis ground, and then has a path to the IEC connector and to ground at your outlet - thus the static generated signal has a place to go that is not in the signal path. This is easily verified with a DMM on connectivity mode - just put one probe on an RCA shield and the other probe on the ground pin on the IEC. I am almost certain it will beep.