Guys,
I've been dealing w/similar issues for over a year, being located near a large radio tower. Most of what's been said above is generally on track. Sometimes all the little nits add up to a big problem, so attack RFI in every way possible.
- As mentioned try cheapo interconnects from a vcr, boombox etc. They sound crappy musically speaking, but most are heavily shielded. If the problem decreases, you know to shop for a good shielded hi-end cable.
- If possible use as much balanced cabling as your gear will allow.
- Since you have a VPI table, you can do what I did; buy a balanced junction box for ~$150 from VPI. It replaces the one on your table, with lemo connector on top and balanced outs on the back instead of the RCAs. This conquered massive RFI in my room!
- experiment with aluminum foil wrapped around cables, especially at connection points on the phono stage & preamp. Do this with music playing, if you hear changes thru speakers while you move the foil around your cables, you'll get an idea where the trouble spots are.
- Physically move your tt, phono stage and preamp if room allows and you are up for exercise.
- borrow a solid state phono stage and see if it eliminates the problem. It usually does, but that always leads to a whole 'nother dilemna.
Good luck,
Spencer
