Ground loop with Miyajima Premium mono


Hi to all,
this is the trouble:a annoying hum from speakers when
the Miyajima mono cartridge play.Aesthetix Rhea phono stage.
This resolved only desconnecting a channel from the cartridge
and selecting mono function from line pre.
Does someone know how this problem can be resolved?
Thank you in advance.
somaxx

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

I hate to pop the bubble here, but there is no way that one ground in a cartridge is causing a hum on account of a ground loop!

You can prove this easily enough by tying the minus outputs of a stereo cartridge together- no hum will result!

If one channel is responsible for a hum, it is because there is something about that channel that makes it hum, like an open connection or something like that. I'm not denying that the hum exists, just the explanation for it is not a ground loop.
Somaxx, I get that this is the explanation on two different sites. Despite that, its not correct.

A ground loop is formed when there is a gain stage that shares a ground with another gain stage, such that it can amplify the currents in the ground circuit.

A classic example might be if a preamp and an amplifier are both have their circuit grounds connected together with their respective chassis, both of which get their grounds from the ground prong of the AC outlet.

In this case, there is no such gain stage; IOW, the cartridge is a passive device. If there was a gain stage between the cartridge and the phono section, then it would be possible, without one you don't have the conditions for a ground loop.

I know ground loops can be mysterious, and recalcitrant hums can be frustrating, but they are not the same thing. I can think of other scenarios that are far more likely:

1) If there are 2 windings in the cartridge, one could be defective

2) A wiring error is occurring in the process of connecting the inputs of the preamp together.

3) the tone arm ground and the minus outputs of the cartridge have become confused

4) if the cartridge has a metal body (or employs for some unknown reason, a ground tab) and is grounded to the arm, you will get hum pickup as the arm is no longer able to shield the cartridge signal.