I think I get it. He was using an external SUT instead of the one built into his phono pre-amp but switched back because he was getting hum.
Usually hum is from cables that are not properly shielded, ground issues, things like that. I run a Denon AU-340 SUT with 3' cables going into my Audio Research SP8 that sits about 10" from the SUT. No issues what ever. I have all my grounds attached to the back of my SUT, the ground from the SP8 and the ground from the tonearm cable.
BillWojo