Help, No sound from Turntable

I would think it would be very rare for a cartridge to go completely dead without a bit of sound. I’ve heard of them becoming quieter, or becoming distorted, etc. But going completely dead quiet? That would seem quite the anomaly.

Before going out and purchasing. $1,500 cartridge, I would suspect something else. A wiring failure somewhere in the turntable/tonearm would be my first thought.

But, if you have no back-up cart, I would go out and buy the cheapest MM cart I could find, ‘bolt it on’, and see if you get sound.

I am sure this is not your problem but it is amusing. I installed a Lyra Etna Lambda, a 9K cartridge. No sound. Tried everything. Nada. Then it occurred to me and my buddy that the VTA had been changed which changed the relationship between the pivot and the cueing lever. The curing lever was down and it sure looked like the stylus was in the groove but it was floating just above it. Re-adjusted the cueing lever and voila!

Before going out to get a new cartridge do the following.
Disconnect cartridge pins and touch the tonearm leads at headshel, if nothing happens then check for continuity internal arm wiring, then tonearm cable and so on. It is unlikely that cartridge, cabling, phono, preamp are faulty.

G

You have lost both channels so you have to look at issues that would affect both channels such as switching in the phono preamp or preamp section. First plug another source into the input you are using for the JC3. If it works then you can turn your attention to the JC3. Does it have power? Is it hooked up right? Wires do get pulled out. My cat disconnected the TV once. You have to work your way through to determine where the problem is. Fuses might do this. Some units have them hidden inside. Relays are another weak point. 

@mijostyn 

Makes a lot of sense