How can I fix this Phono Stage problem


I have a McIntosh C2200 preamp, Mcintosh MC 402 amp, and VPI Classic turntable with Dynavector 20XH cartridge. I just bought a Canary Audio CA-430 phono stage for this system. The problem is that when I use the CA-430 in the MC setting everything works fine, but when I change the CA-430 to the MM setting I hear a loud buzzzzzzzzz coming from both speakers. I checked all my connection, grounding, and interconnect but the buzzzzzzzz does not go away when in the MM setting. Is there anyone out there with the same problem? Do you have any idea how to fix this problem?
almandog

Showing 1 response by larryi

There could be a number of issues with the particular cable, apart from the difference in resistance that you measured. As others have noted, cables are grounded differently. You could try flipping the expensive cables around (many have directional arrows because the shield is grounded on one side only).

It may also be the case that the cable is not shielded. I once had a problem with buzzing with Kimber cables that was cured by getting another Kimber cable that was supposedly identical, but for the fact that the one that cured the problem was shielded. When the two cables were tried in a setup where noise was not a problem, the unshield cable actually sounded better, so there may be a tradeoff using shielded cable, but one that is certainly worth making if noise is an issue.