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Love / Hate relationship with vinyl?

Ok, I do love the sound of vinyl, but with my LOMC (Lyra Kleos), I hate the noise (low level hum, and hiss) levels I'm getting. I own a Hagerman Piccolo head amp that I haven't used in a couple of years, so I thought I'd hook it up, and see what happens. Well, still got the hum (at high levels), and the hiss. However, I do like what it's doing for the sonics! I've tried moving cables, moving the head amp, but I only get incremental improvements. Is this just the nature of the beast (LOMC's), or is there something I'm not doing that could improve these noise levels? Of course, another option is to go with something that has more output, like a HOMC, of a MM? Thoughts?
louisl
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Louis ... I use a Lyra Kleos too, which I really like a whole lot. Been there and done it with an Ortofon 2M Black and Soundsmith Zephyr. IMO, the Kleos is much better. My electronics are an ARC phono pre (58 db gain) and linestage(12 db gain), which do a nice job. No hum or hiss.

Something else is causing the trouble. The hum could be a ground loop or maybe even the TT motor. I might have blinked and missed it, but what TT are you using?? Any possibility the TT is the source of the hum??

The hissing is something else. Could be the phono pre and/or preamp combo.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
First thing I would try is the MC input w the lower gain option. It may be sufficient, depending on the line stage and amp gain you have and the efficiency of your speakers. KAB has a gain calculator app that lets you input your cart voltage output so you can figure out how much OVERALL system gain you have, which is really the relevant variable.
louisl OP
183 posts
 
To answer Alan above:
My tt is grounded to my phono preamp, and my phono preamp is grounded to my preamp. I have tried grounding my head amp to the tt...bad idea, it hummed like crazy. Then I tried grounding my head amp to my phono preamp.....same thing. Lowest noise is leaving the Hagerman Piccolo head amp un-grounded.
louisl OP
183 posts
 
To answer ETBABY above:
All of my gear is plugged into a Running Springs Audio - Jacob PC.
louisl OP
183 posts
 
To answer Bifwynne above:
Yes, I really like my Kleos too, but this noise is really starting to bug me! My tt is a VPI Classic 3, and yes, I guess it could be the tt motor, but how can I check that?
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