Clio09: with shorting plugs, I had to put my ears to the speakers to hear the hum AND buzz on the rm10. However, I just tried it again and now I get dead silence. ???
There is a hum emanating from the transformer when I'm near the amp. It varies in its loudness depending on the fullness of the moon :). I thought until just now that that hum was making its way to the speakers--guess not, or not always.
Yes, with shorting plugs in the LSA, I get roughly the same level of hum and buzz at all volume levels (well, up to 3 o'clock--I've never turned the volume past that). And it was the same level as the RM-10 with shorting plugs, i.e. very, very low. However, today, with the amp dead silent, I get the same buzz and hum with the LSA.
Once I introduce the phonostage, then the objectionable noise appears. With IC's into the LSA but the stage off, the hum is loud. After I turn on the stage, the hum diminishes greatly and is overtaken by or competes with the tube noise in my stage. At ambient room levels, it is barely audible at my seat with the LSA at 3 o'clock. I very rarely listen at that level so it doesn't affect my music. But being neurotic, it still bugs me.
My phono cables are grover huffman's latest. They are supposed to be well shielded. As for lead wires, I swapped out the stock wires on my AT LS-12 headshell with copper litz wires. With everything else going on, it's hard to say what effect that had.
I should just sell my stage and get one more compatible with the LSA and quieter. To be honest though, the system sounds great, so I'm hesitant to mess with it. Do you have a K&K stage, Clio? How's that in terms of noise?
