2. analog
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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
louisl OP
183 posts
 
Austinbob, my phono preamp is an Acoustech PH-1P is solid state. My preamp is an Audible Illusions L3. It is tubed, but only two. I replaced the tubes today, and that eliminated the hiss! Now I'm just dealing with a low level hum, at high volumes.
louisl OP
183 posts
 
Atmosphere....Thanks for you info on the Jensen SUT. I will research it.
Also, I did replace the two tubes in my Audible Illusions L3 preamp today. No more hiss. Your right, it's not how old they are, its how many hours there are on them. However, some tubes do begin to fail at different times. Who knows? I'm glad I replaces them! :-)
louisl OP
183 posts
 
I really appreciate everyone's comments / suggestions. As I have said in some posts above, I replaced the tubes in my Audible Illusions L3, and that did solve my hiss issue.
Now, I'm addressing a low level hum, that I feel is directly attributable to the introduction of the Hagerman headamp in to my system. When I move the position of the headamp, the level of hum changes.
I don't hear the hum while listening to a record at normal listening levels. However, every now and then, I listen at high levels, and, when I do, I can hear a slight hum.
Perhaps I'm being a bit too picky, but I think my phono should be dead quite, even when using a LOMC!
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
When I move (or even touch) the cables going to my headamp, the level of hum changes.

Bingo! or maybe bingo ;-) I'd try different ic's to/from the headamp and also check to see if the RCAs on the headamp are secure and properly grounded.
acman3
4,273 posts
 
I had the same problem with hum when I added my sut. I tried 4 interconnects and only one, Autitorium 23, stopped the hum. Like you, I could move the sut around,and by touching the transformer or moving it around the hum would change.

It may or not be your problem, but like Swampwalker, your last description reminded me of how I fixed my hum problem.
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