2. analog
  3. 180980-3592

Buzzing from speakers on TT rig

Looking for a little help or suggestions:

I have a Marantz TT15S1 hooked up to one of several amps. There was 0 noise in the beginning. I was using the Phono Input on the MF integrated. I added a Rogue Triton phono stage and all was good for a few days. Then the buzzing started. It was to the point where if you touch any point of the tone arm it makes weird static noises and touching the ground wire into the Rogue makes loud pops! I re-arranged the wiring and it seemed to help. Now I moved everything around on the racks and it's louder than ever. I took the Rogue out of the circuit and ran through the phono on the MF A1008 and there is still a slight buzz but not a violent snapping like with the Rogue. Ohh and I floated the ground on the Rogue and it made no difference. 

Even through using only the MF phono input I can make the buzzing vary a little by wiggling the ground cable around. Very frustrated. Is there a better way to ground that may help, could it be in the cartridge or TT wiring? My digital system is 100% noise free so I think my power is ok. Rogue is being shipped back for a replacement but I hope I don't have the same thing when I receive it. Should a vinyl rig be basically noise free or should expect some static? Sorry for the long winded rambling post! I am very new to the vinyl world. 

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Jason

mofojo
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,638 posts
 

It’s a lot easier for you to track down than us. Keep trying, methodically eliminating suspects.

Do to the nature of grossly amplifying ultra small signals you should never expect "basically noise free" between program.

mofojo OP
2,312 posts
 

I hear you although it was basically noise free a few weeks ago. I did send the Rogue back waiting on a replacement. It was not a static issue but violent snapping popping as soon as you touched anything. I also agree it seems like some grounding issue. Hopefully the unit really does have problems and I’m not running them through the runaround. 

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,088 posts
 

It was not a static issue but violent snapping popping as soon as you touched anything.

@mofojo 

This is very typical of an ungrounded phono setup. You mentioned that it occurs when messing with the phono cable too

Even through using only the MF phono input I can make the buzzing vary a little by wiggling the ground cable around.

- which suggests that the ground hasn't been made. Can you run a wire from the base of the tonearm to the chassis of the phono preamp? This would test that theory. Otherwise if you have a digital Voltmeter I would put it on the Ohms scale and measure for continuity between the bass of the arm (or other metal part of the arm) and the end of the ground wire.

If that measures nearly 0 Ohms then the phono section is suspect. If it measures much higher then the ground wire has a bad connection.

mofojo OP
2,312 posts
 

Great tip! Thanks very much, I will try it out tonight. 

noromance's avatar
noromance
10,054 posts
 

Sure there's no routers or wi-fi nearby?

More to discover