Yes, actually it's a preamp/tuner. The funny thing is that no other devices exhibit this behavior no matter how high I turn up the volume. Why only the phono? BTW, I've switched the phono stage to other inputs (the B&K has 5 identical inputs plus tape in/out) and the same thing happens, but when I plug a CD player into the same place -- lovely silence. I've also tried switching out the interconnects one by one (no effect). I _have_ discovered that if I power off the phono stage the noise goes away, while turning off the TT doesn't get rid of it.
Turntable as tuner?
My turntable seems to be picking up a radio station. Also {maybe this is related?), I have to turn the volume way up (compared to the cd player) in order to listen to records at a reasonable level. The turntable is a Pro-ject RM4 w/Project 9 tonearm & Sumiko Pearl MM cartridge connected to a Pro-ject Phono Box and B&K PT3 preamp. All the connections (including the ground) seem tight. Any ideas?
Showing 4 responses by ezside
I'm tending to think that it's an RFI problem, too. Further experimentation: late last night I tried an old Kimber IC I have and the problem worsened dramatically, I think because of the lack of shielding. The cables I have right now are AQ Diamondbacks, which are decently shielded, I think -- one reason I was a little unwilling to accept that they might be acting as antennae ;-). Also, I stuck a HighWire anti-RFI coil on the TT's power cable, which did help some: I can still hear the radio, but it's much quieter now. Moving things around is a good idea, but I just spent a day moving the system for improved WAV (and to help remote usage) so I not real excited about moving again :-). On the other hand, this problem didn't exist (or at least I didn't notice it) until after the move. I tried the cake pan thing, no improvement; also tried rotating the phono stage (it's small), no improvement. I guess I'll try the ferrite clamps next, and maybe some All Clear coils. |
Finally fixed the problem with a pair of AudioQuest RF Blockers (RS wanted $21/4, the AQs wee only $4 more and seemed to be much higher quality) on each cable and a pair of All Clears on the TT phono stage cable. Nothing less seemed to work. Thanks to everyone for the help! P.S. The rest of my system sounds better now, too, esp. bass. Synergy... |
Well, I _thought_ that the ferrite things had fixed the problem, but I was mistaken. It turns out that (although the interconnects were a part of the problem), the real culprit was the cable on the wall-wart that powers my Project Phono Box. Wrapped it around a couple of the AQ RF Blockers and Presto! no more noise. BTW, during all this I decided to try shielded coax interconnects from Blue Jeans Cable (http://www.bluejeanscable.com) & love them! Cheap & tasty is best... |