Major Problems with Aleph Ono


I have an Aleph Ono on loan I am considering purchasing. The rest of my set up consists of a Clearaudio Virt. Wood MM, VPI MkIII/PT 6, ARC LS15, ARC VT 200, Vandy 3A Sig's.

The Ono sounds great, much better than the Creek unit I currently use, the problem is, when I turn the volume up to even moderate levels, the woofers in the speakers ossilate and the tonearm starts hopping off the record! I have the jumpers in for the lowest output (60 db) and am using the recommended settings for the cartridge.

I have tried different loading, resistance, cables, balanced and single-ended outputs, I even borrowed a friends pre-amp and took the LS 15 out. Nothing has changed.

Obviously this is not good. I have talked to Pass (not the Ono), the guy selling it (as baffled as I), and someone I consider an experience Vinylphile who told me to move on and buy a different stage (maybe a PH3).

My question is this. Has anyone had the problem and does anyone know how to fix it?
jmcdermott
It may not be a matter of isolation so much as it is a matter of having the table positioned directly in a low frequency high pressure node. No amount of isolation underneath the table can damp the excitation of the table via air-borne means. Placing the table on the chair in front of the rack probably moved it further away from the wall, which minimizes low frequency reinforcement. Sean
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I believe the Creek uses a subsonic rolloff filter which would roll the resonant frequency range off therefore eliminating the rumble. A lot of cheaper components do this so the amp(or preamp) is not overloaded by this resonant rumble.
Isolate your turntable on a wall shelf or play it with the top down.
One thing I notice about this phenomenon is that the woofer wobble starts to disappear after the first track of the record has played. I think that as the tone arme moves toward the center of the record, any irregularities are less "dynamic." I wonder if one of those fancy schmancy platter pads'll work?
I'd suggest placing the tt on a solid support, like a granite base. I have my placed on a custom cut base and there's no feedback vibration problems.

If the woofer wobble disappears after the first track, this may mean that the cart is not optimally set. Try checking the alinement.