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Turntable background noise

I had a large amount of background noise coming from my turntable input. The pitch and volume changed when i picked up the tonearm and moved it over the record. When i switched to any other input speakers were quiet (volume up, no music playing).
My power conditioner was mounted directly underneath the shelf where the tt sat.  I ended up moving the power conditioner as far away as i could from the tt and i would say 90% of the background noise has been eliminated.  

How far away should a turntable be from amps and power conditioners?

Are there cartridges that are more suseptable to this type of interferance?

I have my ground connected to the phono preamp. Is there a better way to ground?  Should i make a tinfoil hat to put over my conditioner and amp?
wiscoguy
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
Are there cartridges that are more suseptable to this type of interferance?
Yes - Grado is one brand I had tried and found it was prone to noise.

I had one on my Rega and the hum got louder as the cartridge got closer to the center of the platter - it was closer to the motor.

Pity - it was a great cartridge other than that.

I now use a Denon DL103 and have no hum, just a little white noise at full volume

Nagoka was noise free and Rega carts

I think there are only a few cartridges that suffer noise issues - most are shielded properly, but noise from power supplies and power bars can be problematic

You could also have issues with your interconnects from the turntable - they can be a source of noise because even the slightest noise in those cables is amplified by the phono stage and the amp

Regards - Steve


wiscoguy OP
20 posts
 
That's funny, it is a grado cartridge. Thanks for your response.
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
I think you will be happier with another brand of cartridge. Most of you problems should be solved.

I would suggest a similar cartridge from Sumico, Ortofon, or Audio Technica - they seem to have a pretty good reputation and level of perofrmance.

Hope that helps - Steve


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