2. analog
  3. 1104841130

Please Help My TT is acting like a tuner

I have a Rega p9 turntable, Shelter 501 cart, Bat pk5 phono stage, Viva 300b amplifier and Galante Symphony loudspeakers. I never had any problems with my system until I moved.

Ever since I moved into my new home, I have been picking up radio stations through my TT. The oldies station comes through loud and clear every time I try to play a record!! I have tried everything: powerwraps, ferrite clamps, grounding, lifting the ground, aluminum foil, etc. The oldies station does not stop playing!!!

I am pretty sure it is the TT because the station does not play when the TT is not connected but the BAT phono is loud by itself and is making a crackling whurring sound.

Anyway I am beyond frustrated and am ready to sell my analog gear and just use digital. I have moved my system into every room in my house to no avail, I still hear the oldies station

Please help if you know what I can do. The Rega tonearm cable is hardwired. Is this my problem? Should I get a TT that has the ability to change out cables so that I can use a really powerfully shielded cable? Do the tubes need replaced in the BAT? Or will nothing work and should I either deal with the oldies station or focus on digital?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

rich62
jimbo3
304 posts
 
Just a thought as I don't know and haven't tried it- I there some way to put some kind of shielding over the existing cable and grounding it?

Rich, I haven't re-cabled a Rega, but have done a couple other makes and it was pretty easy, even for a guy like me with little experience with a soldering iron. Just locate where the tonearm leads are soldered onto the cables and de-solder at that point and re-solder the new cable. No cable cutting involved.
rich62 OP
30 posts
 
Jimbo3:

If it as easy as you say, I will try it. However... what is the best shielded phono cable? Not the best phono cable but the one with the best shielding. I am going to disconnect the rega phono cable from the tonearm and hardwire a new cable but which one to use? I only want to do this once and I cannot afford to cut and hardwire a number of cables.
iamsuperking's avatar
iamsuperking
8 posts
 
it's your stylus. . .well known phenomenon.
jackson
rich62 OP
30 posts
 
Why my stylus? Is it just Shelter 501 or all MC carts?
musicslug
430 posts
 
before you go rewiring or selling your TT, I'd suggest doing a couple of tests.
1.try to get another TT, with a different (shielded?) cable into your system to see if it really is better
2.unplug the TT, leave on the phono setting and see if there's still RFI - if so, it's the amp that needs better shielding and you're just hearing it on the phone setting because the gain is much higher

I used to have terrible RFI in my last place. It was coming through the windows! Even wrapping the TT cable with shielding didn't help. I eventually had to move the stereo (minus the speakers) to the floor underneath (below ground level) to solve the problem.
Some other things that you might play around with: get a sheet of steel (baking sheet?) or some chicken wire and see if you can affect the RFI by moving it around your components. Also, rotating components 90 degrees sometimes helps. It can be helpful to 'dress' your cables (i.e. supend them, make sure they don't intertwine with power cords etc.). Get a friend to listen as you move your interconnects around to see what helps. Also, ask local audiophiles what they know about RFI hot spots in your area. Good luck!
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