I have read your post and have a few questions for you. I thought I read that you swapped out the turntable. I also read that you swapped out your Krell and Phono preamp with an integrated amp. If this is true you undoubtly have a problem with the outlet. You never know what you are up against with house wiring these days. I have come across some funky wiring in my travels. I have seen outlets where there was no ground wire so the ground prong and neutral and neutral legs were tied together at the outlet box. Nothing would surprise me. Have you tried another outlet on another circuit. Give me some feedback so we can figure this one out. |
I had a hum problem & the problem turned out to be the CATV connection. I installed a Jensen Transformer piece between CATV line from the wall and VCR, and no more hum. Also took care of a mysterious feedback loop in my phono system. Sound familiar? Good Luck. |
Some follow-up. So far nothing has changed. I'm going to check the gain settings on the phono preamp. If that doesn't work, I'm going to call the guys at Jensen Transformers (see the last post before this one). If their little box has a money back trial period, then I'll try that. Thanks for all your suggestions. |
Have a read of the following webpage as this may help you. http://www.jensen-transformers.com/an/an004.pdf, regards, Richard. |
If cheater plugs didn't work, then it sounds like you don't have a ground loop problem but a problem with trash coming through the electrical line (despite your Monster power center!) or the air into your system. Living in an apartment building, it's hard to be sure what kind of motors, fluorescent light ballasts, etc., might be feeding noise into your circuits. Have you tried plugging your power center into different branches (use a long heavy-duty extension cord) in your apartment to see whether any are quieter than the one you're using? Maybe there's a mess of wiring in the wall behind your system that's feeding noise into the phono circuitry. Try relocating the preamp or system somewhere else in the room (oh sure, easy to say). Or use some aluminum sheeting (home building supply center, stove-top anti-splatter shields, baking tins?) to shield the wall to see if that makes a difference. Who knows? This kind of problem is maddening. Count yourself lucky that the hum is inaudible while you're listening! |
So far I have tried nearly every suggestion. Nothing has changed. I called a dealer who suggested that I ground the phono preamp to the Krell Integrated amp. I 'm going to try that tonight. I will let you know if that fixes things. Thanks for all the input. |
To add to this thread, I tried everything to get rid of hum. Power cord changes, ferrites, cable placement, filters, etc...Damned hum would diminish, but wouldn't go away completely. Drove me nuts listening to quiet passages, especially with my cherished vinyl. Took me six months to stumble across the source of the hum. The culprit? My DirectTV satellite dish. My audio system has nothing whatsoever to do with my video (the right way to go IMHO), BUT, my front end audio components share the same electrical circuit as my dish and television. Unplugged the dish, hum went away. The wife misses her movies, such is the price you pay, there's always the theatre nearby....Jeff |
Your Cable-TV could be the problem. |
I had a similar problem, and I would check to see if when you have the hum in phono, that your CD is also powered on. If it is, try it with it off. Also, try moving some of the plug-ins if possible. Even if you have to use a power strip to extend something to a nearby outlet. It's a cheap and easy way to "isolate" your possible source of hum. |
I had a similar problem, and the culprit turned out to be my crappy TV. The TV was of course connected to the VCR, which in turn was connected to my preamp. The problem occured after shipping my stuff to a new address. Once I unplugged the visual interconnect linking the TV and VCR, the hum disappeared. Your problem sounds like it may be different, but just thought I'd pass this on just in case. Good luck. |
There is the possibility the plugs on your interconnects are not terminated properly, and/or the cable connection inside the turntable. I had a similar problem once and re-terminating the connections solved it. |
Regarding your phono "hum" problem - try and isolate the source of the "hum". With volume turned down to minimum first try dis-connecting the interconnect from the turntable to the phono input. Then very carefully turn the volume up to see if the "hum" is still there. If the "hum" has gone then look to sorting the turntable side out (see below**). If it is still there then the problem could be from the position of the preamp, try turning this thru 90 deg to see if the "hum" reduces, also try moving it further away from other powered components. Also check all the cables - ensure they are "dressed" correctly, interconnects away from power cords and transformers, etc (if they have to cross power cords ensure this is at 90 degrees). If the "hum" is there still after moving your pre and/or cables, there could be a problem internally from the phono stage and the unit should be checked out. **If the "hum" is from the turntable side then try a ground wire from the turntable back to a preamp signal ground point and see if this reduces the "hum". Also try and "dress" the cables again as above, avoiding power cords and transformers, etc. You will just have to logically work you way thru until the "hum" disappears. Hope this helps? Richard. |
I'm not familiar with the cartridge, but it's possible that it is the culprit. Where do you physically have the turntable? Try locating it away from the other equipment, if not already so located, and see if the hum goes away. |
