Severe Static/Slight Hum SME 20/2 w/BAT

You need to ground your table. The main bearing housing is an appropriate point, or somewhere on a metal part of the subchassis that contacts the main bearing.

Static electricity can be generated by the stylus in the record groove. If it is not drained by a ground wire attached to the main bearing, then it will accumulate on the record, and sometimes even crawl up the stylus and make noise in the cartridge, in an attempt to get to ground through the tonearm cables.

If there is not a provision for a ground wire on the bearing housing or subchassis, then make one. You can test this by making a ground wire and stripping an end bare, and temporarily taping the bare end to the bearing housing or a non-painted surface of the subchassis. Then ground the other end of the ground wire. This should yield the desired results. If it does, then make the connection permanent in the best way you can.

Definitely try all of the simple things you can first. TWL's suggestion is great. I recently solved a grounding problem with my phono stage by simply plugging it in to a different AC source. In my case, it was a bad ground on one of the analog source outlets on a power filter that I use mainly as a gang box for my sources. Through trial and error I solved my issue by plugging the phono into the same AC outlet as my main amp. The difference was amazing.
Of course this happened after checking all of the ground path from the cartridge to the phono stage.

Happy hunting,

Dan

Well here`s my expereance, I had same problem low level hum. I have a TNT JR /BAT vkp-5 tried several things as Twl suggested I grounded better (Twl suggestion are execellent)no such luck for me. When I did switch tonearm cable from stock SME To ZU Xaus it did go away, seems it picking up RF somewhere in it`s path. I don`t know why some manufactors sheilding works in one application but fails to work in the next. I hope you don`t have to buy a cable for a hum but I did. David