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What is the "usual" source of hum between a turntable and phonp-preamp??

I just purchased a U-Turn Basic TT with an acrylic platter and cork mat with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. The table is plugged into a Moon Audio LP-110 phono pre-amp. Moon Audio does recommend to isolate the box away from the turntable. I have currently placed it on a 21inch formica platform stand.  The hum is most audible in the lead out groove, and between tracks.  The sound is very good, BUT I can still hear an undertone of hum when the volume is half way, that is between  55-60 steps on a volume control calibrated from 1-99.  The pre-amp is a Conrad Johnson PV-14SE which the Moon phono box is plugged into

I aware that the hum problem can be caused by the phono cable of the turntable ( which is somewhat cheap) or the connect IC which  is one of the Canare cables which cost $40.00 to $50.00. It appears well made. The   U-Turn TT rep informed me that the left channel input on the table functions as a built in ground.  The Moon box has a separate grounding screw which I am not using.   Thank you,   S.J

  

sunnyjim

Showing 2 responses by sbank

sbank's avatar
sbank
3,382 posts
 
"required getting a track force gauge if I decide to change cartridges"

If you aren't willing to invest $11 in a digital stylus forge gauge from eBay and set the force correctly (which takes about a minute) then you really shouldn't be listening to records. Numbers on a counterweight are never accurate enough for any repeatability nor for tuning setup of any quality cartridge. 
Same thing if you aren't willing to vacuum clean your records and put them in good inner sleeves after cleaning. 
Good vinyl playback doesn't have to cost a fortune, but it does take more energy than pressing play. Some find the involvement & ritual satisfying tasks. If that doesn't suit you, go hi rez and stick with digital. Cheers,
Spencer
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,382 posts
 
@sunnyjim I certainly don't intend to insult you and never called you or anybody else a slug. I'm not here to make enemies. Your last post implies that you are less undaunted by the steps needed to get decent analog sound than I had realized. So I am glad to understand that now.

I applaud your effort with the LP cleaning brush, but feel that the Spin Clean would be a great deal more effective! 

There's nothing wrong per se with the Shure gauge and I used one for many years, but for even less money the digital ones on eBay(they all look like the same one but with different names(mine is Neoteck NTK002) is easier to use, more accurate and also safer in terms of less chance of damaging your cantilever/stylus. Every time I use it, I think that I should have changed out the Shure for this sooner.  Cheers,
Spencer
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