I think you're just hearing the gain stage in the phono card. Remember that phono signals must be amplified much more than digital sources. It could be ground issue, but if it's barely audible at normal listen volume I suspect not.
Arcam phono board - problems
I recently had my local dealer install an Arcam phono board in my Arcam AV8. I bought it to replace my Rotel RQ-970BX. I wanted to reduce the box count and wire clutter.
As I was removing the Rotel unit from the cabinet, I started adjusting the rat’s nest of cables and wires. As an experiment, I set the input on the AV8 to phono, turned the volume way up on, and listened as I moved cables. Sure enough, there was a bit of low level hum that seemed to vary. After hours of research, countless power cord and interconnect changes, replacing the turntable AC transformer power supply, etc, I finally tracked down the source of the hum.
It's the Arcam board itself, or at least the circuit the board is connected to. There is hum only when the RCA cords are connected directly from turntable to these jacks. When I connect my turntable through another input jack using my Rotel RQ-970BX pre, the system is dead silent, as are all other input sources.
The hum is only present at high volume. It is just barely audible at normal listening volume when I am a few feet away. Still, I’d like to eliminate it, you know?
Is the Arcam phono board a POS, or is it installed wrong?
As I was removing the Rotel unit from the cabinet, I started adjusting the rat’s nest of cables and wires. As an experiment, I set the input on the AV8 to phono, turned the volume way up on, and listened as I moved cables. Sure enough, there was a bit of low level hum that seemed to vary. After hours of research, countless power cord and interconnect changes, replacing the turntable AC transformer power supply, etc, I finally tracked down the source of the hum.
It's the Arcam board itself, or at least the circuit the board is connected to. There is hum only when the RCA cords are connected directly from turntable to these jacks. When I connect my turntable through another input jack using my Rotel RQ-970BX pre, the system is dead silent, as are all other input sources.
The hum is only present at high volume. It is just barely audible at normal listening volume when I am a few feet away. Still, I’d like to eliminate it, you know?
Is the Arcam phono board a POS, or is it installed wrong?
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- 7 posts total
- 7 posts total