Need help with hum & rfi with an lfd LE phono stag


I just purchased an lfd mk IV Integrated and LE phono stage. The amp sounded pretty wonderful just off the delivery truck on a 20 degree morning, and gets better.

The phono stage seems wonderful too, but I am getting a pretty bad hum/radio station noise. I’ve read a lot of stuff here and elsewhere on the web on addressing this problem. Nothing helps.

My system:

• Clearaudio Champion
• Soundsmith Boehme moving iron
• Rega 200(?) tone arm
• Clearaudio Quint hard-wired interconnect from the tone arm
• no name cd player into a Musical Fidelity tube buffer
• PS audio juice bar and low end PS audio line conditioner/surge protector ca: 2002

The only things that reduce the noise have one thing in common—me. For example, I have to be touching the tt ground wire to the back of the LE for it to help; taping it on doesn’t help; screwing it to its post on the LE back doesn’t help. Holding all four RCA plugs on the back of the LE while holding my hand against the back plate seems to solve the problem! But, this leaves me far from the sweet spot. ☺

I’ve tried:

• Ferrite things on the tt cable and the ground wire.
• Some sort of RFI paper and foam I have laying around.
• Unplugging the cd player and buffer
• 3 different interconnects from the LE to the amp (lfd, old Jena labs, and home-grown cable I bought off of Audiogon)
• floating grounds/not floating grounds
• moving the LE to the opposite side of its shelf
• unplugging the interconnect from the tt removes the RFI but not the hum

I’d be grateful for suggestions. I want to make the LE work.

Thanks!

Barry
bagrant