Nasty Static on Vinyl

I missed the bit about the blue lead connector, which is why I was puzzled by the recommendation to change the cartridge clips. Mea culpa.

The platter usually does not discharge the LP. According to Shure, the charge simply re-distributes itself on the underside of the LP. When you then remove the LP from the platter, the charge reappears uniformly on both sides. That’s the crackling sound you sometimes hear when flipping or removing the LP.

Sorry for my confusing comments. I think there were a few things going on here. My fumble fingers did pull off the blue cart connector after I installed the Hana so I thought I screwed up the grounding blue being the left ground. Did not adjust the gain on the phonostage and when the music peaked on the vinyl that what was coming thru. Sounded like static to me with or without the amp muted. When I lowered the gain to -10db the problem was solved.  I was able to reseat the connector but I'm gonna replace all of them. I will try different settings on the impedance dial with 100, 220, 470, 2k2, 4k7 and 10k being the presets. Novice to this stuff but I'm certainly very thankful to have you all of you to help.

Lewm, it sounded to me like he pulled one of the clips off and was trying to make the connection with a bare wire. In which case all four wires should be trimmed and new ones installed. Of course new clips will not do anything for a static problem but a loose connection can sound an awful lot like static. Like you I am a bit confused because the way the problem is being described it does not quite make sense. 

I did find it very odd Lewm but could only take what the OP stated for now.
I can certainly see 67db gain raising the noise floor considerably but it should not have sounded like static pops and snaps imho.

He also might want to try a few even higher settings than 470, I know some people with some carts run right up to 47k or even Herron infinity loading

I'm puzzled, because the gain setting of the phono stage would have zero to do with static, and I cannot think of any other electrical phenomenon that would cause the noises you heard or hear.  Unless engaging the 67db gain setting switches into the circuit an additional gain stage within your phono, and there is a component of this high gain stage that is faulty.  That situation would have nothing to do with static electric charge. But such a glitch should not get past your mute switch.  So, there is something inconsistent.
I have a feeling this is not the end of the story, but I hope I am wrong.

@uberwaltz Yes that was your tip! Thanks so much!!

Thought the 100ohms would be too low and as I said try 220 or 470.
Glad the 470 is working out for you.
Enjoy

@lewm It was that the gain of my phonostage was set to normal +67db apparently way too high. Not that anything was distorted but even in mute the pops and cracks of attenuated music came through the amp sounding like static. Very bizarre and frustrating. I had just mounted the Hana so it was so weird. It only did it on some albums, ones that apparently had a higher gain like the Mofi version of Dire Straits Brothers in Arms. I did bring up the impedance to 470ohm and gain down to -10db and everything is just stunning! Still experiencing some static when I take an album from the sleeve but it’s discharged once it touches the platter. Added a pathe wings mat and it’s great! Thanks for everyone’s help!!!

I'm sorry. Are you saying the Artech Premium phono cartridge clips eliminate static charge build-up, or are you thinking that the cause of the noises is something else?  Thx.
Just reading the thread, it sounds to me like the problem is indeed due to static charge.  The OP has not yet revealed much about his listening room, other than the humidity.  If he has a wool carpet or wears leather soles, those two are culprits in bringing charge to the LP, even if it was discharged to begin with.  The new Audioquest brush that grounds its fibers via the body of the user is pretty effective at least at reducing the charge on the LP surface to the point where there are no obvious physical phenomena to deal with.  The voltage potential of static charge, which easily reaches a threshold of around 3000V and can reach levels as high as 30,000V on the surface of an LP, can certainly jump across open switches, so the OP's reports to that effect do not dissuade me from the static charge hypothesis, unless I am completely misunderstanding the scenario. 

Running the cartridge into 100 ohms load is very suboptimal for the Hana, in that one could expect a high frequency roll-off within the audio band due to an impedance mismatch, but this would never be so severe in slope as to eliminate the kinds of noises that I think the OP is describing (which in any case are not particularly high in frequency).  And the impedance match would neither help nor hurt the tendency to accumulate static charge. Finally, the last thing I would blame in this scenario is the tonearm, as in, I cannot imagine that the tonearm has anything to do with it.
These are just my opinions based on what I read on this thread.  None of us except the OP has all the facts, however.
Just a thought for Audiosaurex:  You say you have been replacing all your record sleeves lately.  Did you do this all at once, at a single sitting or two?  If so, the very act of changing the LP sleeve, which is a major culprit in conferring a static charge to the vinyl, could have charged up several of your LPs.  Once the vinyl is charged, the condition has a tendency to persist for a surprisingly long time.  If you read the Shure Corporation white paper on static, you can see that their actual data on that subject. (I can't remember the numbers, off hand, but I am thinking months maybe.)

audiosaurusrex, get a set of these,  https://www.needledoctor.com/Artech-Premium-Phono-Cartridge-Clips
and have them soldered on correctly with silver solder then heat shrink the colors on. Better than crimping and more durable. Always install and remove the clips with a fine needle nose pliers. Never tug on the wires. 
Fingers are way to fat for this work:)

Mike

If memory serves me right the Hana SL is what I would term a momc at 0.7mv.
On the high gain it was likely distorting somewhat and backing it down to the lower setting cured that.
Not that your initial description sounded like distortion but your cure indicates it possibly was.

My guess would be 45db on low and 60 or even 65 dB gain on high 
100ohm might be leaving some upper details on the table though.
Try just changing the impedance one click at a time and evaluating it.
you may find 220 or 470 sounds better.
Good luck.

So back to report... I believe the answer is impedance and gain setting on phonostage.
I have a Hana SL and thought the impedance load was 400 ohms but my SPL Phonos phonostage has a preset dial with 100, 220, 470, 2k2, 4k7 and 10k. Also has a normal and low dB setting. ( maybe someone who understands this can direct me to the proper settings). It seems that 100 and low -10 dB has resolved the issue. Feel stupid but worked through it. It seems to be playing fine now. Just couldn’t understand why some albums played fine and others were impossible to listen to.

@tooblue Absolutely, Gonna take everything apart tonight and see whats what. I'm thinking that since my Tonearm is still under warranty AS-TA1000 I may send that back. Hopefully it's something like the wiring and not problems with electronics. You all have been helpful and helped me cool off ;-)

@audiosaurusrex, please let all know the process and fix to this problem once solved. This would certainly screw up some good listening sessions and hope you find your fix easily and quickly. Good luck.

Try going in bare feat whenever listening .

@tooblue These are brand new albums that are doing it on. And the Amp is muted or even on another source. I put my ear to the album and hear no pop but its coming through the speakers like crazy. 

@elizabeth That thought did cross my mind. I recently changed my cart to a HanaSL and the blue cartridge wire connector fell off. I was able to insert it into the connector and work it onto the cartridge but I'm going to check and make sure that is not touching anything. 
@ uberwaltz So some albums are completely fine and others a lot of them I can't even play but what Elizabeth said sounds right like there might be a static buildup.
I did hear a pop initially when the needle hits the record. I thought grounding to the Amp neg speaker terminal would resolve it but that was short lived. Started again. ARRRGGGH!!!!

It does not stack up somewhere.

Are you sure it is not an issue with your phono electronics? If it has a random problem this could give the illusion that it is only on certain records.

Unless of course when you say certain records you mean if you play x album it ALWAYS does it?

I don't understand how you could be getting static thru your speakers when the system is muted, clicks and pops while playing an album are an issue and can be addressed with proper record care and cleaning to great effect but again do not understand how this issue could exist while the system is muted. Enjoy the music.

audiosaurusrex, are you saying that you hear static through the speakers with the system volume down or just the phono amp muted? If you hear it through the speakers with the system volume all the way down (muted) then you most likely have a grounding problem. 
As I have said in the previously mentioned post, using a Zerostat or conductive will discharge the record but as soon as you start playing it the charge is reestablished. You have to discharge the record while it is playing. The best way to do that is with one of these,
https://www.sleevecityusa.com/Antistatic-Record-Cleaning-Arm-p/tac-01.htm I give tips on using it in the previous post.
In terms of maintaining the charge in storage paper sleeves are the worst. Plastic sleeves are better because they will remove at least part of the charge.

So much so that the static comes through even when the amp is muted.

Are you saying that this noise occurs with the stylus dropping or playing and the amplifier is muted? Something is really wrong with this. Are you sure it isn't an electronics issue within the phono/preamps?

Lovan rack on brick fireplace hearth. Gonna go through the grounding tonight. I initially had problems with pop when stylus hit the needle even when amp is muted . Now it's escalated to static pops and clicks as vinyl plays even when amp is muted!!. It's weird because it only does it on some records. Very frustrating. My Acoustic Signature Plinth was grounded to the amp and tonearm to the Phonostage seemed to work for a little while now back worse than ever. Humidity in room is about 56% I'm thinking the turntable is maybe picking up something from the metal rack. Also tried going right to the ground AC plug.

Are you wearing leather soled shoes?  Is your system on a wool carpet? If either is the case, change the environment accordingly.  Grounding the tonearm is not so important as grounding the platter, when it comes to static electric charge build-up.  Also, there is now a record brush that connects to ground via your body.  You can use it at start up. There is a simultaneous thread on this subject.  Read it, too.  Most of the advice is “soft”, but some combination of efforts will help.  I do agree with humidifying your room, if it’s dry. And a zerostat will help only if used correctly.  Washing the LPs is a waste of time, unless they’re dirty.

Move to Florida, no shortage of humidity.

When did this issue start?

Check your interconnects between the amp and preamp for continuity of ground. Also make sure you have your tonearm properly grounded to the phono stage. 

Is the air dry? Try a humidifier perhaps. Take care to avoid dragging feet when moving around and handling the records.

Carbon fibre brushes work. Some can be permantly mounted on table if needed. Zerostats help.

https://www.maplatine.com/en/content/267-how-do-you-reduce-static-electricity-on-records-