very disappointed about my system setup

Cranky as all hell, I guess. Sorry, I had promised myself that I would refrain from commenting on tt/vinyl. I shouldn't write too early in the morning or too late at night. I still find vinyl noisy and continue to scratch my head as to why, on balance, certain people deem it so superior to anything else. Call me deaf, I guess, or worse... BTW a very well respected contributor to Audiogon with a very high quality (the highest) tt/arm/cart/pre set-up is on record as indicating that something like 30% of his vinyl collection is noisy. Is it any wonder that with my very humble analog rig I am still bothered by surface noise? I know of no preamp that is designed and constructed in such a way as to mitigate impulse noise. I am not saying they don't exist, I am just curious as to what preamp and what exactly in such a preamp de-emphasizes impulse noise and would appreciate knowing about it. Maybe, in fact, the original poster has to re-form, re-attune his ears to vinyl. Which seems to support my long held contention that whatever (short of absolute garbage) one listens to, it becomes de facto his/her standard in a way. The converse being also true, that when one gets the urge to upgrade or change something in his/her system, any kind of change (short of absolute garbage) is welcomed as an improvement, until the urge strikes again. And then there is the possibility that the original poster simply prefers cd...

Pbb, if you get a chance, listen to the Naim phono sections in their preamps. They are just about overload proof regarding ticks and pops. I used to use them, and found them excellent for reducing noise, and they have good sound quality too. I use a tube phono section/preamp now, but I think that the Naim was better at reducing click/pop noise.

I understand that this type of noise can be irritating, and I don't relish any of this noise, but I find that the sonic benefits far outweigh this noise thing. The noise can be reduced to a very low level on most records, but there is no doubt that some records are just going to be noisy.If this noise is too difficult for you to bear, then you are correct in not using vinyl.

And up until the advent of the CD, there was no such thing as a "totally black background", and this is what creates the "desire" for this on vinyl as well. But at this time, there is only the choice of one(better sound?) or the other(black background). Ya pays yer money, and ya takes yer choice. But, with good vinyl, you can get nearly black backgrounds most of the time, and still exceed the performance of CD. That's why I go with vinyl. Not all will.

i assume i have set the tt up properly. it has been a long time since i had my previous linn but most of it is logical.
i have done everything i know how to do. the tt is dead nuts level using a precision instrument that is accurate within .001 per 12". the tonearm is p/l with the platter and the cartridge is p/l with the headshell and overhang is within .010 of where it should be. i am not sure how to check the springs but the arm board appears to p/l with the plinith and the space around the armboard appear to be an equal distance around the outside parameter.
the dynavector is a 10x4 mk2. what is the tracking force of this cartridge? i initially had it set @ 1.5 grams and increased it to 1.7 grams and this improved the sound quite a bit. becaause of the way the cartridge is built i am reluctant to add any more weight. your help and constructive criticism is needed and encouraged. its not the first time i have been called a dummy !
thanks everyone,
tim

Bluebottle,

You are not a dummy. A dummy wouldn't ask questions. You'll get this thing working fine, just be patient. It does sound like the power supply is going south, IMHO. You described exactly what happened to my table.

Pbb, relax. It's okay. You don't have to like vinyl or understand our love for it. Come to my house and I'll be nice and show you a vinyl library that is in excellent condition with nearly all of it being very quiet. You can choose what we listen to and you can be the judge. I honestly don't think you've heard a reasonably good vinyl rig set up correctly. Please don't throw insults at us though. We do have feelings and remember, you're insulting what is very near and dear to our hearts. Every one of us would change if it was warranted.

No hard feelings here. You?

Patrick

Get a tube phono pre-amp.

Also check your VTA.

I can't even listen to CD's anymore and I'm 25 years old and recovering from multi channel syndrome.