Was really hoping someone would dive in cuz you got a lot going on here. Static is always a problem yours is just worse than usual. For immediate relief get Static Guard anti-static laundry spray and waft it around liberally over cables and around components. Not directly on the turntable or record but around it. Longer term you may need to search Amazon for liquid pump sprays that are more longer lasting. You will probably be spraying Static Guard every night. That's what I do.
There’s also carbon fiber brush gizmo’s that contact the record and provide a path to ground during play. Get one.
Then as far as overall noise, it can be narrowed down to two main sources: anywhere, and everywhere. That’s not a joke. It can be one thing, anywhere, or it can be everything, everywhere.
Carefully take everything apart, down to the cartridge clips. Carefully clean and examine. Look for the tiniest detail. Especially where things connect. One miniscule weak solder or clip can do it. If the cartridge clips aren’t tight, crimp them. To do this safely, insert a round toothpick first and then crimp. The toothpick will prevent you from squishing it flat in case you’re a spaz. Check RCA connections the same. Use your contact cleaner/enhancer of choice, or plain alcohol and clean 100% cotton cloth.
Analog is not digital. Gain or amplification when playing a record is orders of magnitude greater than anything else. Some amount of noise is inherent, or more accurately can be insanely expensive to eliminate. Even then it will always be more silent with digital than analog. The noise with digital is the signal itself. The noise with analog is extraneous and this makes it easier to hear. If guys can learn to love the noise that is digital then certainly we can learn to embrace the suck.
So, is the noise you have left normal and live with it or too much and do something about it? My simple test: turn the volume up to as loud as you normally like to listen. Sit in your chair. If you can make out the noise, its not bad but you can hear it, that’s normal. Or maybe I should say acceptable. Live with it. Because when you drop the needle, almost always even a really quiet record will have groove noise at least that loud.
If you do all the above and the noise is a lot worse than this, well let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.
There’s also carbon fiber brush gizmo’s that contact the record and provide a path to ground during play. Get one.
Then as far as overall noise, it can be narrowed down to two main sources: anywhere, and everywhere. That’s not a joke. It can be one thing, anywhere, or it can be everything, everywhere.
Carefully take everything apart, down to the cartridge clips. Carefully clean and examine. Look for the tiniest detail. Especially where things connect. One miniscule weak solder or clip can do it. If the cartridge clips aren’t tight, crimp them. To do this safely, insert a round toothpick first and then crimp. The toothpick will prevent you from squishing it flat in case you’re a spaz. Check RCA connections the same. Use your contact cleaner/enhancer of choice, or plain alcohol and clean 100% cotton cloth.
Analog is not digital. Gain or amplification when playing a record is orders of magnitude greater than anything else. Some amount of noise is inherent, or more accurately can be insanely expensive to eliminate. Even then it will always be more silent with digital than analog. The noise with digital is the signal itself. The noise with analog is extraneous and this makes it easier to hear. If guys can learn to love the noise that is digital then certainly we can learn to embrace the suck.
So, is the noise you have left normal and live with it or too much and do something about it? My simple test: turn the volume up to as loud as you normally like to listen. Sit in your chair. If you can make out the noise, its not bad but you can hear it, that’s normal. Or maybe I should say acceptable. Live with it. Because when you drop the needle, almost always even a really quiet record will have groove noise at least that loud.
If you do all the above and the noise is a lot worse than this, well let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.