VPI Classic hum

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~

Your Classic should be dead quiet. If not, call VPI and they will tell you what is wrong. Don't listen to hum....not a good thing

I agree, it should be. I've contacted VPI and also have spent over $1000.00 for various fixes and things. The thing is, that, if you had never heard what I'm hearing with my table, you wouldn't notice it, even now( with all the fixes). The problem comes from having heard it and now I'm locked in on it. I was able to make dead quiet recordings from using my LP12 with any cartridge that I had (Grado's , Shures, etc). This is not possible with the Classic. During my trouble shooting of the Classic, I was able to borrow an outboard motor assembly. With it connected to the Classic, all of my recordings were dead quiet. As a result of that and using a stethoscope on the plinth to check for motor noise I was able to confirm the source of my problem and come to a conclusion. Again, don't get me wrong, with the Soundsmith, and 300RPM motor the table is very quiet but not dead quiet in my listening environment, it's very enjoyable to listen to. However, I want and need to make dead quiet recordings, so I will be moving up to an Aries 3 like the gentleman did earlier in this thread. I've learned a lot on how to mitigate the noise to an acceptable level without spending a lot of money like I did and if someone wants to know they can email me.

I have the same vintage Classic TT and have been using a Benz Glider without any hum. Suggest you send your table into VPI and have Mike take a look at it.

I am, it will be in exchange for an Aries 3.

M~