2. analog
  3. 1103003572

Please help with phono hum

I've been in audio for more than 7 years now and had many different systems (all tubes). Finally, around couple months ago, I decide to try phono.
After reading many post here about how wonderful phono sound, I was so exciting and thought that I will experience something amazing. But the only thing I experience with phono is bad sound, hum and noise through the whole system.
Let me start with the system. I have a Muse 8/926 DAC -> Emotive Audio Sira LE (just upgraded all new tubes) -> Art Audio Jota -> SAP J2001 speakers (horn). Last month, I bought a Sota Saphire turntable with a Grado cardrige, connected it through a Musical Surroundings Phonomena and to my Emotive. I got major hum from the speakers and the music was terrible. I then heard about the Grado noise, so I got rid of the turntable and get a VPI with a Benz cardrige. Same thing happen, LOUD HUM even when the motor is not on.
Again, I traded in all the equipments and this time, I got the Clearaudio CHAMPION LEVEL II w/unify arm, clear audio balance pre-amp, Transfiguration Spirit from a dealer. The package arrive today and after hours and hours setting them up, here come the LOUD HUM in my system once again.
I've been trying to switch cable, lift the ground (also, prior to this, I got my dedicate power line installed), hook them up to the Hydra Conditioner... still HUM and HUM.
After 2 months with turntable and 3 different equipments, I'm really wonder if this turn table thing is real or just an imagination?
Please, if someone has been successful with TT, please give some good advice.
I'm in Orange County, California. If there's any expert with TT, please contact me at 714-623-5099. If there's a professional installation around my area, I'm willing to pay for the service.

Thanks
linkoping
sberger
146 posts
 
the simplest solution might be just to play with the grounding wire from your table. i have a vpi scout that has 2 grounds, one that connects to the lugnut under the table, and one that is supposed to connect to the junction box that the arm is connected to. originally, nothing would stop the hum until i literally taped the second ground to a screw on the junction box. that worked perfectly for several months until the table got moved recently. then i had the hum again. until i untaped the second ground. now it's not connected to anything. no hum. the message is that you may need to fiddle about with several things before it goes away. but don't just keep trading in tables without fixing the problem.

Good luck!
vvrinc
323 posts
 
I have been having the exact problem myself, although the hum was only heard at around 23-24 on my preamp (very high volume).

I put a cheater plug on my phono preamp and the hum went away. Nothing else I had tried worked.

I had my phono preamp and preamp connected to a Powervar and thought that would prevent hums. It didn’t.
linkoping OP
112 posts
 
Hi,
Thanks for all the input. I finally get less hum from the TT by disconnect the ground from the tone arm to the phono preamp. Once the ground wire got disconnected, the loud hum is gone as well.
My phono pre does not have the ground in the plug so no need for a cheating plug, I guess. However, there is still hum when I lift the arm up, other than that, it's fine for now.
About the sound, I honestly don't think it sounds better than CD. In fact, it's not even near CD quality. There's no soundstage, flat sound and not good at all. I align the cardrige, clean the records, but still doesn't sound great (like many posts here on AA). Am I doing something wrong here?
Anyway, I finally understand that this TT need PROFESSIONAL set up. That's what everyone suggests me to do so I'm willing to give it another try. Now, the question is:
Is there anyone that lives near by that is willing to come to my place and help me with the TT? I would greatly appreciate and offer to pay for the time with the setup as well. I'm in Orange County, California. If someone is interesting in help, or setup with charge, please contact me. I answer email fast and can also be reached at my cell: 714-623-5099.
Thank you
s23chang
620 posts
 
Sorry, 3000 miles is bit far : )

Vinyl is not always better than CD.

Recording:
Recording itself has a lot to do with it. If the recording is originally from Analog and then re-mastered into digital then Vinyl can be better ( but not always.) Vinyl press can vary from one batch to another. i.e. My friend borrowed a copy or the Nora Jones LP and he swears that it is better than his CD play back. Once he bought himself a copy, we did A/B comparison immediately. Guess what, the CD sound better this time.

TT setup:
This is quite complicate process. The result can vary a lot with different table, tonearm, cartridge, tonearm cable, motor, motor speed, and output cables. The easiest setup I've done so far was buying the EMT 930ST broadcast TT setup. It was truly plug and play. The only issue I had was the 50 hz motor. I traded it for something else that's more flexible and allowed me to swap to different cartridge, tonearm, cables and even phono preamps. It took a lot of effort to finally outperform the EMT 930ST setup.

Phono preamps:
This also play a big role. It varies a lot from one to another. There are many good ones out there to try but it will cost you.

Phono pre-preamp: ( step device for MC cartridge )
Cartridge compatibility was an issue for my favorite MC head. I was limited to only Active type. There are big difference betweent SS and tube pre-preamps. There are only a hand full of these tube pre-preamps, most of them are ok. I prefer it over the SS ones out there ( except I never get to try the super expensive one like Expressive Audio SU-1 or the PH-D.)

Phono cables:
I tried half of dozen top of line and decided to stick with the best of the bunch and stopped doing more comparison. The sound surprising varies a lot in cable technology.
More to discover