2. analog
  3. 190283-148168

Phono cartridge noises

Hi All, 

I finally after many years built a new home with a dedicated music room and was quite happy with it until I connected my turntables. I've never run across this and looking for advice as I'm truly lost on what I’m experiencing. 

I have two phono preamps, the Jolida JD-9 II / Grado Gold G2+2 High Output cartridge / Project RM 1.3 and a Black Ice Fusion F159 / Grado Reference Low Output cartridge / VPI Scout. Without the cartridges connected I have a slight bit of air noise when I turn up the volume which I kind of expect. As soon as I plug in the cartridges I pick up what I think is internet noise and not in a small way. The high output masks it to a point, the low output can't be used at all. It sounds like I'm on a spaceship! It's a high pitched noise with a morse code like beeping sound, a lot of background kinda rumble/flutter and distortion. The room is wired for ethernet but as yet not connected I only have WiFi in use. When I switch to any other source input on the main preamp all noise goes to silence. I have connected the phonos with different cables from Transparent Audio, Morrow, Original phono cables that came with the tables and even tried an old set of Monster Cables; all produce the same result as soon as the cartridge is introduced into the loop. 

Has anyone come across this I'm truly stumped?  

K

skyy75234
bpoletti
1,552 posts
 

Welcome to the wonderful world of RFI.  Phono carts are great antennas.  

skyy75234 OP
12 posts
 
5G Tower Not sure the pic uploaded, if it did here's my issue roughly 1,000' in a direct line to my media room and cartridge!
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,763 posts
 

They appear to be tube phono stages. Try a solid state one like a Schiit Mani 2. You can also try adding a RF filter capacitor across the phono input. Add a ferrite bead to the 'hot' wire coming from the RCA plug inside the amp.

lewm
12,982 posts
 

There is no reason to believe that an SS phono stage would be less sensitive to RFI. In fact, an SS stage is more likely to be MORE sensitive to RFI, because an SS stage will likely have a wider bandwidth, not that that extra bandwidth, for example above 100kHz, is necessarily vital for audio.  Also, in this case, the RFI is likely to be airborne from the nearby tower. Thus adding filters across AC and audio inputs is not likely to completely eliminate the problem, although there is no reason not to try it. In the worst case, you may have to consider placing your phono stage inside a Faraday cage type of shield.

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,763 posts
 

The issue occurs when the OP plugs in the phono lead so I cannot see that working.

In the worst case, you may have to consider placing your phono stage inside a Faraday cage type of shield.

More to discover