2. analog
  3. 1057675434

Unwanted radio signal from turntable

I have been plagued by a unwanted AM radio signal that appears when I am using my turntable. While it can't be heard when music is playing it is very annoying to hear a newscaster talking about the latest political scandel inbetween the voices of "Sweet Honey in the Rock".
My system is AR pre, Phonomena phono, Clearaudio turntable. It is in this chain that the problem occurs. The culprit seems to be the interconnect between the turntable and the phono stage. If I disconnect it from the turntable the radio station remains, so not the turntable or ground. If I disconnect it from the phono stage the radio signal disapears. I thought that it was due to a poorly sheilded interconnect (Kimber). I tried a different interconnect and the signal returned, any ideas from the analog gurus on how to deal with this?
agaffer
audiobugged
528 posts
 
Reminds me of the Partridge Family episode where Lori Partridge was picking up AM stations in her mouth after getting new Braces on her teeth.

Agaffer most people on Agon complain of getting bad AM reception, so in your case it's like a bonus? :)~

I'm w/ Twl on the Grounding situation, & Eldartford on cleaning the contacts if they are dirty?

Did changing interconnects lessen or strengthen the signal?
lourenz
14 posts
 
I can receive short wave radio stations with my Rega RB300, modified with the Incognito rewiring kit (Cardas). To turn them off: unplug the FM-antenna(s) from your tuner, twist the interconnects from the turntable to the phono amp and take care of proper grounding of your arm/turntable by connecting a ground lead to the phono-amp. This even lowered the noise (hiss) level a lot.
Hope this helps you too. Good luck!
audiophanatik
59 posts
 
You need to get aa young priest and an old priest and some holy water.

The power of christ compels you.. the power of christ compels you......
rockinroni's avatar
rockinroni
287 posts
 
I have the same problem if my phono section is anywhere near a power cord or transformer,
I get hum and RF (Radio frequency) problems.
Move your phono section around and see what happens.
Cheers,
Ron
agaffer OP
256 posts
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. I switched out the interconnect from the phono stage to the arm and tried using a heavily shielded coax style interconnect from a company called Straightwire. Problem solved. It was the interconnect that was the problem.
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