Phono without ground wire?


Hi all,

I have an old vintage turntable and stereo receiver from the same era (late 70s / early 80s). I was initially using a pretty standard phono hookup - RCAs with attached ground wire. However once I upgraded to better RCAs (van den hul D501 silvers) and bought a separate ground wire I ran into a weird “issue.” 
Basically if I use the ground wire alongside the van den huls it GENERATES a loud buzz but if I remove the ground wire the buzz goes away. 

Does anyone know what’s going on and whether it’s ok to keep using the turntable without a ground wire? I also started using a power conditioner around the same time so not sure if that could be contributing. 

Thanks,
Hauie
hauie88
The whole entire purpose of the ground wire is to eliminate noise. It is not at all like the ground on other things where the intent is safety. So yes it is okay and if your turntable sounds better with the ground unattached, go for it. Probably it is like chakster says but either way, no noise, no problem.
Your rca already grounded, just don’t use that separate ground wire.


Read about ground loops of you want.