help get rid of the noise

ikorman

Active Member
I have humming and noise using phono stage on my setup. It's readily apparent if there is no LP playing and I turn the volume up. This can be heard via speakers, and via headphones.

Here is a list of my equipment:

Technics SL-1600 MK2
Ortofon OMB 5E cartridge and stylus
Marantz 1120 integrated
Audio Technica ATH-M35 phones
set of Pinnacle AC500
set of Infinity RS2

Some more background:
I mostly listen to classical vinyl, with an occasional rock or rap.
I have the turntable correctly grounded to the receiver.
I balanced and aligned the stylus, and cleaned it with Mr Clean Eraser
I had a different receiver hooked up before with the same results: Fisher CA-800
I also tried a few different Marantz pieces (1070 and 2270) as well as full Nikko amp/preamp/EQ system and got more or less the same results
I tried another TT, Technics SL-QD33 with Ortofon TM 7 cartridge/stylus, which is similar to OMB 5E - also noisy


My main suspect areas are:
1. Noisy phono stage. How would I fix this? Will it help if I do a re-cap of just the phono stage? All other inputs sound nice and clean. I love the Marantz but I mainly got it to improve my vinyl experience, and if it don't help, it's going bye-bye. Is a new external phono stage in order?

2. Cartridge and stylus. I realize this can be fixed with lots of money for a new cartridge and stylus. But I am reading that the stylus is not a bad one, and I cleaned it really well with Mr Magic Eraser and examined it using a loupe.

3. Maratnz came to me without the proper amp-preamp jumper cables. I am using a regular set of RCA cables. However, the noise is not present when switching to any other input, so incorrect jumpers aren't likely to be an issue.

Please help. I don't want to needlessly throw money at problems and taking wild guesses. Thanks in advance.
 
Did you try new cables?

Which cables do you have in mind.

Turntable cables aren't replaceable. The other turntable (SL-QD33) has replaceable cables. Speaker cable can be taken out of picture by using headphones.
 
You might have a ground loop from the TT(s) to the receiver. Does removing the ground lead make the noise increase or decrease? Also look for a bad connection inside the turntable at the terminal strip where the tonearm cable connects to the RCA's. You can replace the RCA's on the Technic's. It does involve some soldering but it's doable.

Larry
 
You might have a ground loop from the TT(s) to the receiver. Does removing the ground lead make the noise increase or decrease? Also look for a bad connection inside the turntable at the terminal strip where the tonearm cable connects to the RCA's. You can replace the RCA's on the Technic's. It does involve some soldering but it's doable.

Larry

When I remove the ground lead from the Marantz 1120, the noise is added. The hum is there even with another turntable. Also, the hum is there even if nothing is plugged into phono or the ground. The darn noise sounds like the seashore. :)

Maybe I am just getting what everyone else is hearing: any phono stage equipment can add major noise?
 
Properly grounded turntable should give you near zero noise. I second Larry's idea on the tonal arms connection to the RCAs. Maybe time to do a little surgery. Before you do though have you tried flipping the power plug over? I had a philips table that would give me slight noise when the power plug was in one way and no noise if I reversed it. Just more food for thought.
 
Check the phono RCA connectors on the amp.From connecting-disconnecting the phono could have cracked the solder of the connectors.My E80ES made noise even in stand-by.When I checked some connectors soldering was cracked.All I had to do was resolder them.
If it does it with other turntables it must be the amp.
 
Sounds to me like you're getting feedback. Try moving the TT away from your speakers or move speakers away from TT. Also make sure the TT is sitting on a solid base.
 
If you can find some RCA shorting plugs, connect them to the phono inputs. If you still get hum, it's a power supply issue in the receiver or possibly a wiring problem. Disconnect everything from the receiver except the RCA shorting plugs on the phono inputs. If the hum goes away you have a ground loop. If you have a TV connected to the system, you are getting a ground loop from the cable ground to another ground in the system. Put a 3 prong to 2 prong adapter on any 3 prong AC plug, to lift the ground.
 
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