Turntable and subwoofer living together in peace and happiness
Unfortunately I got readdicted to audiophile disease a few years ago. I amassed a new system via the used market: Rotel Rb991, NAD c658, Rega Planar 3 w/motor upgrade, tonearm rewire, upgraded arm counter balance, Hana ML, Clear Audio Basic+, B&W 805 Matrix, B&W ASW800 subwoofer, Kimbers all around.
My issue has been subwoofer integration. I get rumblely feedback from the subwoofer as soon as I drop the needle into the lead in groove. With digital playback this is not an issue. Thinking that the turntable was picking up vibration from the floor and cabinet, I built an isolation platform that consists of a 6 inch deep box made of Peruvian Walnut filled with 50lbs of sand and topped with a 1/2 inch granite all of which sitds on Sorbothane spiked feet. I thought i had the subwoofer was far enough away.
Any and all thoughts would be appreciated.
Your problem is lack of a rumble filter most likely. I have one of those highly maligned Technics SL-1200MK2 turntables with a Goldring E3 cart. Not exactly high end, I know. It sits on top of a 3-tier glass unit all in a room with wood floors. I can play albums at any (reasonable) volume with zero effect, No T/T isolation required. I run dual HSU subs and a 330 watts into 4ohm amp. Plays clean as a whistle. |
Rumble filters are mostly just a kludge that mask the root source problem, without solving anything, IMO. I’ve been down that road, had the KAB filter which was nothing but a kludge and got rid of it as a waste of money. It masked the issue a little bit. I had to solve the root problem. In my case that was a tonearm with magnetic bearings that got upset too easily. I solved that by replacing my tonearm to one with mechanical bearings. Rumble filters are not a panacea. In my experience they’re a bandaid that doesn’t stick well enough to prevent exposing the wound.
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@horn13 I used Hana ML on 3 turntables )not on Rega though) and Hana EL on 2 tables including Rega P2 with no issues. My recommendation would be to start with basic troubleshooting steps 1. Check your cartridge alignment - overhang, azimuth, zenith, VTA (this will most likely be an issue without spacers). 2. Double check your VTF. I recently had an issue with a digital scale that calibrated perfectly but lied when setting VTF by over 1gr causing mistracking. Instead of 2gr my ML was tracking at slightly under 1gr. I bought a Riverstone Audio scale and it’s excellent. Issue addressed. Here’s the link to the stylus force gauge on amazon: https://a.co/d/07W82QL8 Deeper dive - likely the cartridge compliance is not ideal on RB330 with Hana ML. But with proper alignment you can mitigate rumble. Or get a phono stage with rumble filter
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The first thing to start with is location. Although locating turntables is corners is a no-no, you can even have issues with the table being in proximity to the corner. I had an issue some time ago with a VPI Aries when I had stereo corner loaded subs. The table was located off center on the rack, closer to the right corner and I was getting terrible feedback but only with high playback levels of bass heavy material. Moving the table six inches away from the corner and closer to the mid-point along the front wall completely solved the problem. So pay attention to where your table is situated. If it is closer to one corner, just try moving it a little more center. Costs you nothing.
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Pull the subwoofer away from the wall as much as possible. I suspect the back pressure from the sub is riding directly down the wall to your Turntable.FWIW I have had the same issue. My sub was closer. Moving the sub further from the TT and the wall was effective. Also consider isolation footers, IE Herbies Audio or the sub dude mentioned earlier |
