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Analogue question

As everyone else in the world this lockdown has been a change in "normal " behavior but has given many of us audiophiles plenty of time to listen to "our music " . Since I am planning to downsize my living space I have been going through various pieces of equipment to determine what I will keep and what I would let go . 5 days ago I have come across a maddening problem with my analogue set-up ! Everything sounds great until I want to play a record and before I even place the needle in the grove I get a serious hum through my speakers ! I originally suspected I was getting acoustic feedback because my amp was close to the speakers . Yesterday I moved all the equipment to a distance of 6-10 feet from the speakers and still get the hum when I switch to analogue. Starting to wonder if it is coming from the turntable itself but before I take the time and energy to reset a new rig thought I would post a question on this forum. Any help would be greatly appreciated . Set-up is as follows : Dual Golden turntable w/ortofon red cartridge , McCormack UDP player , Forte 2a preamp feeding Forte 4A amp , speakers are Vandersteen 1C , interconnects KimberKable Heroes ,speaker wire Nordost Blue and Tice power conditioner . 
wazoo
itsjustme
681 posts
 
Ground Loop. Funny, i jsut spoke about those on another thread.
Everything must go to the same ground point. Find one outlet, put a high quality outlet strip on it, plug into that. Need to get somewhere else, get a logn, heavy extension cord.
Grounding not only causes hum, which we all hear, but all sorts of subtle distortions which no one ever seems to appreciate, but destroys good sound.
On my on designs i typically allow each chassis to either float or be grounded. Both ways have safety grounds, but one way eliminates a potential loop.
G
sandthemall
544 posts
 
Does any of your equipment employ a wall wart?
clydeactor
24 posts
 
Dual turntables have a history of ground hum problems.  I owned a Dual 506 for years, but it would occasionally produce a loud hum.  I truly loved the Dual sound!  I currently own the Technics SL-1200M3D and Sanyo TP-1010 turntables, and I never have any hum.
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,510 posts
 
Run an extension cord back to the main outlet, for investigation. If that works the other outlet is probably on the other leg.
Swap breakers or hire an electrician.
Or try a cheap iso transformer.  If that works you can get a good one for better SQ.
If you're downsizing go with the $10 solution until you get resituated.
TT baloney.
I had -50db hum for 30 years. Just plugged the same TT into a Puffin and it's now vanished, SPDIF OR analog out.
mocassin2
13 posts
 
Get a ground cheater  one of this gray plugs . Leave the amp grounded and then float the ground of each component in your system at the ac plug one by one, Leave your turntable ground wire attached to your phono stage or preamp while you doing this. Just make sure to turn everything of  from one step to another . You will find the ground loop . Be calm and patient
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