Phono stage picking up radio signals?


The strangest thing happened this evening. I just hooked up my Whest phono stage and as I was letting it warm up I turned up the volume slightly to check the noise level and noticed a strange noise coming from the speakers. At first I thought it was a ground loop hum or some feedback, but when I put my ear to the speaker I distinctly heard music. I turned up the volume a bit and to my surprise I could hear and identify the song playing, followed shortly after by DJ banter. It was obvious I was picking up a radio station, but I don't have a tuner or any other radio device in the home. Can anyone give me a clue as to what might be going on.
clio09
Kel34,

Thanks for the response. It so happens the tube phono stage works fine (Cary PH-301), it's the solid state one that is causing problems. I am looking into ari-hell's suggestion as that is the cheapest way to go for now. If that doesn't work I'll try a pair of shielded ICs, as Nordost are not shielded. If all that doesn't work I have two more phono stages coming that I was going to compare against the Whest and if they work then the Whest is pobably out and I'll choose between the Hagerman and Decware.
Clio09: Sounds like the RFI problem was in the phono preamp. As for your question about the ground wires, yes you can connect them as you say -- just make sure the TT and the tonearm aren't electrically connected (no metal parts touching) or you will have created a ground loop.

And definitely try shielded cables.

.
Clio09 - Shoot James Henriot an email. He is a very nice guy who is very informative about his product. I think I have heard there was a batch that was shipped that was missing a part in the loading plugs that go into the back of the unit that was causing this radio reception/interference.

Shoot him an email with your serial # and problem, and see if perhaps you got a unit that had those issues...

good luck and keep us posted please.
Audiofankj,

I have emailed James before and he has always responded in kind. I did email him about the RFI issue and given the fact that he is 8 hours ahead of me and it's the weekend I'll look for his response Monday. Also, I plugged in the phono stage without any load resistance plugs and it still picked up a radio signal. While the plug theory makes sense I'm at a loss as to why the unit would continue to exhibit the problem without the plugs being utilized.

I have also tried to work through he dealer who I bought this unit from (used) and he was somewhat helpful, but insists it is a problem with my tonearm cable or the position of the unit. I know it is not the tonearm cable as I've done many tests, and as for position, I only have so much room to manuever and nothig has worked do far.

Hopefully James will have an answer.
Nsgarch,

I was seeking out shielded ICs and referred back to one of your posts. You mentioned a floating shield, meaning the IC is shielded on one end only. I have seen some double shielded ICs which are shielded on both ends. I'm assuming this won't work based on your post but was curious as to why.

Thanks