VPI Classic hum

You need a well shielded cartridge with the Classic to stop the hum.

I had an expert suggest Soundsmith, and it's a dude who should know.

No hum from the Dynavector 17D3 Karat Mk II on my Classic. It's grounded and am using a Krell reference phono amp.

Here's an update, and a new issue.

Two cartridges I've used of late - Benz Gullwing and Dynavector 17D3 - reveal another source of hum.

This time, the hum begins when the stylus touches the playing surface, during the lead-in to the tracks, and I can also hear it a bit during quiet passages.

Someone told me it's because VPI motors are noisy.

VPI tells me it's because my low-output cartridge requires a lot of amplification, and is picking up some 50Hz hum from other piece of equipment in my system.

Anyone have any ideas?

I'm close to moving on to another t/t if I can't resolve this issue.

Oh, but the Classic/17D3 combi is awesome. Just that pesky hum bothers me ...

UUUhhmm, I also own a VPI Clasic and I mounted a Clear Audio Maestro Wood, a MM with a 3.6mV output. I think the I/C from the TT to the phono pre may be some off the shelf "higher end" Radio Shack RCA cable. I don't know if its shielded. I don't use a grounding cable from the TT to the phono pre. Also the phono pre is NOT a super high gain job, only 58 db. Bottom line -- no hum whatsoever, but as I mentioned in two other threads, still tweaking the set up to optimize sonics and reduce a slight bass resonance.

Bassraptor, did I miss something in the posts above, but it seemed like you found cartridge nirvahnna with the Rega I/Cs and the CA Concerto? How did you wind up with the Benz and Dynavector cartridges?

Let me challenge point you with a couple of questions. Krell runs his Classic with the Dynavector and reports no problems. His set up is grounded. Is yours?

You mentioned that the Rega I/Cs are shielded. Can I assume that these I/Cs are effective with respect to shielding against low frequency currents in nearby electronic circuits, trannies or the TT motor? Do the Rega I/Cs run near any of the foregoing types of equipment?

Finally, have you sent a private message to Krell asking for more details on his set up, including what he's using by way I/Cs? It seems to me that if you can duplicate whatever Krell is doing, presumably you should get a similar result.

Good luck!

Bifwynne

To clarify, there are two different hum issues.

- The earlier one, I attributed to interconnect not being placed properly, ie, too close to amp or power cord. This is no longer an issue, as I've learnt how run the connects so they don't pick up noise.

- The newer hum issue is only when I place cartridge on record surface.

I started off with the Clearaudio Concerto, it had some issue later (it was about 3 years old), then moved to the Benz Ace ... later, in quest of something better, I upgraded to the Benz Gullwing. That's when I started hearing the hum from the record surface, which has continued with the Dynavector.

My distributor is dropping by this weekend to see what I'm not doing right, grounding, etc .... will update.

I wonder if the Classic needs to work with a high output cartridge?