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Eliminating humming & buzzing


What is the best way to have a clean sound? When I hook
up the grounding connector from my turntable, it reduces
about 95% of the humming/buzzing; but not all of it. The
noise is still there even if I unplug the power from the
table.

Is this simply a grounding problem, or is there something
more that I need to do? The table is hooked up to a
receiver which is not at all grounded; I just connect the
table ground to the ground in my power strip. Kind of
primitive, I realize, which is why I'm asking here.

Thanks!
Mark
pyite
agaffer
256 posts
 
I just went through the same thing. While any of the above answers may fix your proplem there is one more place to look. The cables from your turntable to your phono stage are very sensitive to RFI. I kept changing cables until I found that in my system a heavily sheilded coax cable did the trick. Now there is nothing but blackness between the musical notes.
gboren
143 posts
 
I live across the street from the phone company and three blocks from a major AM radio station. I live in an apartment house with all sorts of crazy wiring in it. When I got into vinyl, I had serious hum and RF noise. I tried everything: RF stoppers: didn't work; power conditioners: didn't work; cheater plugs: didn't work. Then, on a whim, I borrowed a Linn Linto phono stage from a local dealer and all the hum and RFI immediately and completely disappeared.

I don't recall the details, but there is something unique about the way Linn designed the power supply which makes it impervious to EM and RF noise. I went and bought the Linto and have never heard a bit of RF or EM noise since.

It's a bit pricey, but, for me, it was the only thing that allowed me to enjoy vinyl. You can find one on a'gon for about $800 used.

Good luck!
pyite OP
28 posts
 

Thank you for all of your excellent suggestions. Luckily,
I found an inexpensive solution.

My receiver doesn't have a phono input, so I had a $75
phono -> line converter, which had a regular 110 plug. I
happened to have a $25 Radio Shack 9v battery powered
converter, which causes no noise whatsoever!

The proper solution, of course, will be to go and spend a
few thousand on amps & preamps and rewiring the whole house
electric system. Until then, I am able to enjoy hum-free
music.

BTW, is a "phono stage" the proper term for this thing? Is
there an Audiogon glossary page?

Thanks again,
Mark
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