Can hear TV or Radio station via Phono stage ???

Before you spend money on any cure, see if you can try it first. I had a serious problem with RF noise and the Audioquest RF Stoppers were a total waste. Most of the other suggestions seemed to help but the problem, as well as the cure was transient.

You may wish to also lift the ground, or, if you have cable tv, see if you have a circuit which does not share a ground with cable. Unfortunately, this option was not available to me.

What finally worked for me was a Linn Linto phono stage preamp. I tried about 4 other phono stages ranging from $100 to $1000 and only the Linto completely eliminated the noise. This may have to do with the unique electronics in the Linto.

Good Luck!

Yo Jfrech,
The interference you are hearing is caused by a strong RF (radio frequency) signal that is finding its way into your phono stage, cartridge or cabling. Start by unplugging everything. Disconnect the phono stage from the preamp, the phono cable from the turntable and from the phono stage, and then turn on the just the preamp and amp. Listen for the offending interference on the input you use for phono. Next turn down the volume and hook up the interconnect from the phono stage. Turn up the volume and listen again. Then connect the phono stage to the interconnect. Listen again. Keep adding pieces until you find the one that is allowing the interference to get in. Once you find your "problem-child" component you can try three things:

Shield, re-orient, or replace.

Shielding means that you apply copper foil, mu-metal, or sheets of CRS (cold rolled steel) around the component to keep out the RF. Cables and cartridges can act like antennas and sometimes if you simply move them to another orientation or location, that will greatly reduce the RF problem. In the event that the problem is a cable, try a longer or shorter one. If all this fails, you can throw new components at the problem until it goes away.

The really frustrating aspect of RFI is that with a quality phono stage and interconnects I have the problem. But when I use the phono section of a cheap Onkyo preamp there is no problem! Of course, the sound sucks, so I'm still experimenting, trying to find a phono stage that doesn't do this or a way to position it to eliminate the noise.

Suretyguy, try the Linn Linto. It cleaned up all the RF noise and sounds great.

Always try cheap fixes first. If all else fails, I suppose a Linn Linto would be nice! As nice a phono stage as it is, that's a rather pricey fix!

Here's something cheap and easy to try, if you are using a power strip:

1. Buy a hospital grade power strip (e.g., Wiremold)
2. Plug in components in this order, begining with the sockets closest to the power cord: power amp, preamp, CD player, other (e.g., phono stage, turntable).