Turntable hum??? Help

Are your turntable cables passing near a transformer on any of your other equipment?

1.) Gently wiggle all cables - even the power cords. If any of these crackle or pop - could be the source of the problem. Don't crank the gain up when you are doing this or bad things could happen. It is normal to pick up some hum when you put your fingers on the pick- up wires themselves.
2.) Was this exact combination working properly at some past date? For instance - have you substituted a different low output cartridge and are simply hearing the noise floor differnce caused by this?
3.) Most phono sections will hum if you apply enough volume control crank. Does the hum intrude at normal listening levels? Frankly - even old timers such as myself can have problems with playing at higher volume levels - simply because we've gotten used to CD noise thresholds.
4.) If your equipment has three wire gounded AC cords - try lifting these one at a time with "cheaters" - the adapters hadware stores sell to allow you to hook up modern three prong AC cords to older 2 slot only AC sockets. Don't hook anything at all up to the ground loop on the AC adaptor. And yes - your equipment may very well make more noise with the grounds lifted.But you won't know 'till you try.
5.) Have you got any computers or computer devices in the same cabnet the turntable is in? A TIVo for instance.
6.) I hope this last isn't insulting - but I do occasionly run into youngsters who are just starting off into the LP world and have 0 previous experince with turntables. You haven't got your leads from the turntable - the actual tonearm output - anywhere near any AC power cables?
7.) After all - you know the reason it's humming is 'cause it doesn't know the words.

try disconnecting your ground wire altogether and see what happens...also, are you using shielded cables? if not, think about investing in a pair. might not fix the problem, but good for rfi, etc.

Are you grounded from the phono pre to the passive pre? How close is the cartrdidge to the amp? Are you running florecent lights?

Do you have a TV connected to the system? If so, disconnect the coax from the system. If it goes away, you need a groundbreak for the coax.

Red2,

I also have a WTT.

Make sure that the ground wire from the ground screw on the rca bracket to the arm is intact.

If you have tried the above suggestions and still have the hum, connect a wire from the ground screw on the rca bracket and touch the motor.

I also have a WT which had a pad connection from the cartridge clip to tonearm wire. It looked OK, but poking all four wires behind the cartridge, found the one which was the culprit. Simple re-solder is all that was needed.

Good Luck
Jim

What phono cartridge are you using? Grado cartridges are well known for "humming".

Mr. Kidknow