VPI Classic hum

Last suggestion: if you want to go the Sound Smith or DV 20X route, maybe the dealer will lend the carty to you, or at least install it for you in his shop. Then check the TT for hum. Btw, is using a tape deck to check for hum really a valid way to assess the problem? For all you know, the tape deck may have a hum problem.

Look . . . fortunately, the Classic TT is not an old fashioned Swiss watch with gears, cogs and a main-spring. There simply aren't that many parts that can be defective. It's either the motor or the carty -- period. If you still have a hum in your system, it has to be somewhere or something else -- 60 Hz inductance from a power line, I/Cs, or other electronic gear.

As I said, try the Zephyr at your dealer's shop. If there's a little hum, ask yourself if it's OCD? Otherwise, plug the Classic in, turn up the juice and enjoy. Here's another suggestion. Pick up Linda Rondstat's "Living in the USA" record. The first track is the Check Berry standard, "Back in the USA." Turn the volume up -- a lot --listen to the track and look at the album cover pic of Linda wearing her roller skating shorty-shorts. She was in her prime back in the 70s -- one big time adorable cutie-pie. Aaahh, youth is wasted on the young. Sigh.

IMHO, the hum is a mechanical hum, and is the result of the motor vibrations being transferred through the plinth. If you take the motor out. You can turn it on and off all day with no hum whatsoever. This was verified by using the tape monitor and listening through a set of headphones and was the reason for going with the 300 RPM motor (less vibration). Keep in mind that I’m still getting hum when listening through the phono-stage in my system.
Actually using the source monitor on the tape deck is great for this in that it allows you to amplify whatever is coming through the cartridge. There are things that are going on that are covered up by the music. By using the tape monitor with belt disconnected from the platter, and the arm down on the platter you can heard the noise (mechanical hum) from the motor when it's turned on and off quite clearly. Normally on this table, what happens is that when everything is connected the cartridge acts like a microphone and the mechanical hum is picked up along with the music from the LP. I may not be explaining this quite right, but I never had this problem with my LP12. There was never any hum at all on the tapes made on my Naks or Revox machines. All of the tapes made on those machines are dead quiet. Also, I have a Project table here and no hum. Also, there is a possibility that you guys may still have the hum, but are not noticing it because you aren’t recording. Still, I'm open. I think that in my case, we may have to go with an outboard motor configuration of some kind or change the table to an Aries which has an outboard motor assembly. But right now I'm not in the mood to be spending a lot of money on this.
Where I'm at now. I have the Classic 300 RPM motor with the new pulley with a set of Audioquest King Cobra cables and a Dyna 10X5. The hum is lower (tolerable) but still aggravating. I talked to Peter of Soundsmith about the shielding on his cartridges and he said that all of his cartridges are six sided shielded and were shielded in the same fashion. So the shielding is the same on a Zephyr as a Carmen. So I ordered a Carmen. I will contact my dealer later in the week to let him know how the 300 RPM motor is working out and to inform him that I still have my problem. I’m not as frustrated as I was earlier because there are people who have real problems (food, clothing, shelter) and here I am blessed to be “dealing” with turntable hum. It got me back on track, I’m just going to see this through. However, I don’t feel that this is “my problem” if you get my drift.

Final thought: if you haven't advised VPI about this yet, please do. If indeed, there is a mechanical hum from the motor, it sounds like the motor needs to be redesigned. The Classic is supposed to be dead quiet, so this is quite unfortunate. But again, maybe my ears or rig just isn't as discriminating as your set up. I'm used to the usual hiss sound from the stylus tracking in the grooves, so maybe I'm just ignoring what you hear. Please let us know what Mike and Harry at VPI say.

NP

I'm working with my dealer on this. I know that we'll get it figured out. It may just my setup, I use my Classic to record cassette tapes. My setup CJ PV5, MF2500A Vandy 3A sigs, Nak CR7A, Dragon, Revox B-215, not the greatest but it allows me to enjoy the music. If you get a chance, record something and listen to the play back.

I received my new styled Carmen on Wednesday and installed it. It's a great looking cartridge and sounds wonderful. Now to the point, the hum is still there. If you weren't aware of it before, you probably wouldn't notice until you listen to a recording made from table via a set of headphones. Well that's not good enough for me, so the table will be upgraded to an Aries 3 next year. Don't get me wrong, this thing simply rocks with the Soundsmith Carmen. I have the arm set to level, VTF @1.394gm, and am using the 3gm VPI headshell weight. It has it all, separation, depth, explosiveness and just flat out enjoyable. I'm staying with the Soundsmith line and will move up incrementally. This cartridge is seriously good for the price.

M~