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 6 responses by lewm

Here's a question: Is there any difference at all between the "BE" version and the plain Premium version, other than the species of the wood that is used? Miyajima website says nothing to indicate any other difference. A US vendor says there are indeed some internal differences between the two models, to justify the $250 price differential. Thanks.
Robin, Do you mean to say that this is the usual recommended mode of operation for the Premium mono (one channel hooked up and preamp set to "mono")? Does this mean that one would have to tolerate hum (or sound coming out of only one spkr) if one's preamp does not have a mono switch?
My phono and line stages are fully balanced, so perhaps this would not be an issue for me. Balanced lines typically are less subject to ground loop problems (he said, with his fingers crossed). I would not want to have to build a Y-connector using XLRs. Also, in all cases the use of a Y-connector adds physical connectors into the phono signal path and might slightly degrade sound quality. Not good for those of us like me who suffer from audiophilia nervosa.

In the last two days, I purchased a bunch of very early 50's jazz LPs, all mono, so my appetite for the Miyajima is even more whetted.
Thanks, Ralph. I had the suspicion that this was the case, but actually forgot to mention it in my post. But, hum is hum and must be eliminated when possible.
It would not surprise me to learn that the hum issue has much more to do with the circuit design of the particular phono stage than with the cartridge itself.
Salectric, I know nothing about this subject (whether and why a mono cartridge could damage a stereo LP), but just empirically it seems to me that any cartridge with a conventional cantilever has "vertical compliance" to one degree or another. What the mono cartridge does not have is merely the ability to translate vertical motion into electrical output. So if a mono cartridge of the Miyajima type does have the capacity to damage a stereo LP, it should not be due to total lack of compliance in the vertical plane. If I am wrong in this idea, I hope someone will correct me. Thanks.
Whoops!!!! I was wrong indeed. I looked on the Miyajima website, where it says, "When it played a stereo LP with this cartridge, a sound is that a distortion and a needle do not work lengthwise, and there is the thing that a needle injures the ditch of the LP." I could not have said it better myself. Thanks for your insight, Salectric.