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Peculiar Hum Issue on Jolida JD9 Phono Preamp

I am experiencing hum in my phono preamp after upgrading several of the internal components. The rest of my analog equipment is Teres TT, Basis Vector 4 arm, Zyx Airy 3S SB cartridge, Linar Model 10 amp. I first noticed the hum after one set of upgrades whenever I connected the arm cable to the Jolida. I reduced it to manageable levels by changing the 12AX7 tubes in the preamp to 12AU7 variants (to reduce gain) and using a lower gain setting in the Jolida.
More recently, I upgraded caps in the input section and I purchased the Granite Audio phono burn-in CD. I connected the output of my Oppo 83SE player to the Jolida and now the hum is back. I used 12AX7 tubes for the purposes of burn in as I don't want to reduce the life of my 12AU7s.
If the RCA cables are disconnected from the CD player but still connected to the Jolida, there is no hum. The Oppo does not have a ground in the AC connector.
I know I can probably get the hum down to manageable levels again when I switch to 12AU7 tubes but I would like to try to eliminate this altogether. Any suggestions as to what I can try?
dramaqueendad
7 responses Add your response
dramaqueendad OP
3 posts
 
Thanks Jjrenman. The problem is definitely the TV. I'll work on isolating the ground pin on the TV cord.
jjrenman
279 posts
 
It might not be the TV. Your last experiment just gives us a direction to look into.

We need to be sure it is the TV chassis. Try hooking up the Oppo's HDMI but disconnect any other sources going into the TV. If the hum is present only when the Oppo's HDMI is hooked up than I'd try isolating the ground pin on the TV's A/C cord. If it does not hum with just the HDMI from the Oppo than hook up your other video sources one at a time until you find the culprit.
dramaqueendad OP
3 posts
 
I disconnected the HDMI cable from the OPPO player and the hum just about disappeared. I had not thought of the TV as a contributor to this issue. How can I eliminate the ground loop while keeping the HDMI cable connected? Would I have to connect the TV's AC cable to a separate circuit?
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Should pair it up with my Jolida amp which hums loud enough to be a spare air-raid alert. Junk.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I think it's time to ditch the Jolida, and move up to a phono stage that better suits the quality of your table/arm/cartridge.
dramaqueendad OP
3 posts
 
Thanks for the suggestions Jrenman.
I had read about use of the 12AU7 instead of the 12AX7 in the Jolida in some threads discussing the preamp. Using a CBS 5814 instead of the Groove Tubes 12AX7s I used previously worked perfectly as the gain before the change was so high I could not adjust volume properly. The CBS tubes also sound much better.
The last upgrade before the hum showed up was changing the coupling caps. I replaced Clarity Cap ESA with AmpOhm foil in wax. At that time I also replaced diodes in the power supply section.
I'll try disconnecting the video cable to see what happens. I may try disconnecting all cables from the OPPO save the RCAs going to the Jolida after that.
jjrenman
279 posts
 
First, a 12AU7 is not a lower gain 12AX7 replacement. A 5751 is although it is still more gain than a 12AU7.

A little more experimenting may help you figure out where your ground loop is. If the JD9 has a ground pin in the AC connector try floating it. Also try leaving the Oppo's RCA cables hooked up but disconnect the video cable. Sometimes the ground loop can be traced back to the TV chassis.

BTW, what specifically was the last upgrade done before you noticed the hum?
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