A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !

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Guy 13

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #180 on: 1 Nov 2014, 06:00 am »
Did the hum start with the arrival of the phono cart?  Is your tube amp hum free?  Mine isn't, but bearable after installing a bigger choke.  Twist the wires so that you have a cancellation effect of RFI.  I use twisted pair interconnects homemade from plenum rated Cat 5E and they are dead quiet.

And the Bellari power supplies are known to be crap.
Hi yeldrab.
The hum started when I move to my new house with exactly the same set up.
At first with the Bellari VP-129 120V/220V walwart) then with the Pro-Ject
and both arms (Rega RB302 + PDR linear arm) have the same hum.
I had RFI un form of FM music, but that's gone now.
Now I only have 50Hz hum.
It must have something to do with the house,
since I did not have that problem in my previous house which is side by side with our new house.
As I mention earlier, I will try pure DC battery power.

Guy 13
 
By the way,
the original walwart of the Bellari, the one that came with it when I bought the Bellari,
did work fine in the other house.

neobop

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Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #181 on: 1 Nov 2014, 12:32 pm »
Hi Frank.
I've connected my original Rega RB301 with it's ground wire connected to my Pro-Ject phono stage
and I've put the arm resting on top of the turntable platter temporarily connected
and even if the Rega arm was shielded I had the same hum,
therefore the bare wires are not the problem.
Guy 13

Not quite sure what this means.  "and even if the Rega arm was shielded I had the same hum, therefore the bare wires are not the problem"
Was the Rega tonearm interconnect to the phono preamp shielded or not? 
Was a cartridge hooked up?

A phono cart is like a microphone with its amplification requirements.  Ever see an unshielded microphone cable?  They're shielded because the signal is a very low voltage and prone to pick up hum and RFI.  PDR says no one ever had a hum problem with this ungrounded arm even if the wires were hanging in the air.  I don't believe him.  I suspect plenty of the builders had problems which they were able to work out.  Some people run unshielded wires from their arm to phono pre and get away with it.  Most of those people braid the wires to help reject hum and noise.  Some of them can't work that out.  Our previous moderator John TCG lived near a radio tower and was one of those people. 

With the ground I did everything you mention above and no difference with the hum level.
I don't know if my GR Research SA-1 ss sub woofer plate amplifier is consider as bi-amplification,
but I also did un-plugged those too. Again, no difference.
The hum is present in the Omega and the sub woofer,
but with the sub-woofer disconnected, I get the hum in the Omega 7F.
No pre-amp, my Decware SE84C+ is an Integrated and with my CD player the Decware is death quiet,
even when you put your ear against the drivers.
I've tried:
Ground from arm to phono, phono to integrated amplifier and/or any combination you can think of.
I also tried shutting off the turntable motor, even disconnecting it from the wall, no transformer near by.
I have one last trial to do and that's to by pass the Majik Buss (No it's not a song...)
then the last test I will do, is to replace the walwart with two batteries to have 18V (12V + 6V) of pure DC voltage.
I will get back to you next week.
I hope it will work, otherwise my vinyl rig will gather dust for a very long time.

Guy 13

First off, the Magic Bus is a song and the name is a play on words.
So, you retried the ground scheme exactly as I described (not through the Majik and w/no multiple connections) and got the same results?   That tells me the problem is somewhere in the record player or phono pre.

"The hum is present in the Omega and the sub woofer,
but with the sub-woofer disconnected, I get the hum in the Omega 7F.
No pre-amp, my Decware SE84C+ is an Integrated and with my CD player the Decware is death quiet,
even when you put your ear against the drivers."

What makes you think this is 50Hz hum?  Will the Omega play bass?  Why does nothing else hum?   I suspect it's plain old hum. 
Do you have the Phono Box USB output hooked up?
Maybe it has something to do with your step down tranny and battery power will save the day, but it's unlikely. 
neo











avahifi

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Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #182 on: 1 Nov 2014, 12:33 pm »
Do you get hum when you install shorting plugs into the phono inputs on your preamp?

Have you tried substituting an inexpensive turntable arm cartridge into your system?  Maybe borrow one from a frined.

I know that some Rega turntables do hum with some Grado cartridges due to lack of electomagnetic shielding in both the TT motor and cartridge.  Do you possibly have a similar issue?

Frank Van Alstine

Guy 13

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #183 on: 1 Nov 2014, 01:52 pm »
Do you get hum when you install shorting plugs into the phono inputs on your preamp?

Have you tried substituting an inexpensive turntable arm cartridge into your system?  Maybe borrow one from a frined.

I know that some Rega turntables do hum with some Grado cartridges due to lack of electomagnetic shielding in both the TT motor and cartridge.  Do you possibly have a similar issue?

Frank Van Alstine

Hi Frank.
I did not try shorting the inputs on my preamp,
because I don't have a preamp.
I have the Project phono stage going directly to the inputs
of my Decware integrated.
Do you mean shorting the input of the ProJect phono stage ?
Could that damage the ProJect phono stage ?
I've tried already a AT3600B mm cartridge and still have the hum.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Guy 13


Guy 13

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #184 on: 1 Nov 2014, 02:00 pm »
Not quite sure what this means.  "and even if the Rega arm was shielded I had the same hum, therefore the bare wires are not the problem"
Was the Rega tonearm interconnect to the phono preamp shielded or not? 
Was a cartridge hooked up?

A phono cart is like a microphone with its amplification requirements.  Ever see an unshielded microphone cable?  They're shielded because the signal is a very low voltage and prone to pick up hum and RFI.  PDR says no one ever had a hum problem with this ungrounded arm even if the wires were hanging in the air.  I don't believe him.  I suspect plenty of the builders had problems which they were able to work out.  Some people run unshielded wires from their arm to phono pre and get away with it.  Most of those people braid the wires to help reject hum and noise.  Some of them can't work that out.  Our previous moderator John TCG lived near a radio tower and was one of those people. 

First off, the Magic Bus is a song and the name is a play on words.
So, you retried the ground scheme exactly as I described (not through the Majik and w/no multiple connections) and got the same results?   That tells me the problem is somewhere in the record player or phono pre.

"The hum is present in the Omega and the sub woofer,
but with the sub-woofer disconnected, I get the hum in the Omega 7F.
No pre-amp, my Decware SE84C+ is an Integrated and with my CD player the Decware is death quiet,
even when you put your ear against the drivers."

What makes you think this is 50Hz hum?  Will the Omega play bass?  Why does nothing else hum?   I suspect it's plain old hum. 
Do you have the Phono Box USB output hooked up?
Maybe it has something to do with your step down tranny and battery power will save the day, but it's unlikely. 
neo

Hi neo,
it's Saturday 9pm I will soon share the queen bed with my wife,
therefore, I will do what you suggested tomorrow, Sunday my only day off in the whole week.
So, get back to you tomorrow.

Guy 13
A lot of good stuff in your post, anxious to try it.

 

avahifi

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Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #185 on: 1 Nov 2014, 05:41 pm »
Shorting plugs in the inputs of any AVA product won't hurt them and have not had that as an issue with any non-AVA equipment I have tested here.

I was suggesting first trying shorting plugs into the inputs of your phono preamp.

Frank

PDR

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Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #186 on: 1 Nov 2014, 09:53 pm »
  PDR says no one ever had a hum problem with this ungrounded arm even if the wires were hanging in the air.  I don't believe him.  I suspect plenty of the builders had problems which they were able to work out.  Some people run unshielded wires from their arm to phono pre and get away with it.  Most of those people braid the wires to help reject hum and noise....

Yes a lot of them braid...me included.
Read the thread, I've seen no one.....doesnt mean some dont..... ground their arm.
Grounding their arm is what I was referring to.

Read the thread

Neo, I realize your a respected member here, thats very nice for you.
Some one with your vast knowledge can be very helpful, sharing is a great thing to do.

Calling me a liar, makes you less.
I dont lie, never have.

I've posted for many years on Audio circle, made many friends, some
will even vouch for me......I'm a stand up guy.

I sent this arm to Guy FREE, there was no charge.
The parts I paid for, the time was mine to give putting it together.
I sent the the arm with shipping PAID, it was about $120.

That came out of my pocket, to help a fellow AC member.
Thats the type of person I am.
I have to give my head a shake...I guess no good deed really
does go unpunished. :roll:

Done here now, wont be back....carry on.

neobop

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Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #187 on: 2 Nov 2014, 12:41 am »
PDR,
Plain and simple, I didn't call you a liar.  Maybe I could have worded that more diplomatically, but I made it clear I was referring to problems that were worked out, implying they were unreported.  How does that make you a liar if you didn't know?  Didn't you say dozens of builds with no ground and no hum and show a photo with wires hanging in the air?  That doesn't seem to be the case here does it?   So apologies for a poor choice of words or not explaining what I meant, but now that you know (if you read this) that's what I meant and I stand by it.   

I know your generosity didn't go unnoticed.  My comments have nothing to do with that or the functionality of the arm. 
neo

Guy 13

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #188 on: 2 Nov 2014, 01:33 am »

Hi Perry, neobop and Frank and all.
O.K. it’s Sunday morning, I had a good night sleep, I’ve stayed put in the bed beside my sexy wife, therefore this morning my body and my mind was up to the task and the task was…
Find that freaking hum problem.
I tried all the grounding scheme that neobop suggested and…
Still humming like a humming bird.
I did what Frank had recommended.
First I’ve unplugged from the phono stage the interconnect from the PDR arm.
Dead quiet.
Then, I reconnected the RCA interconnect in the phono stage.
Hum again.
Then with a RCA bullet connector, I’ve shorted the left channel of the phono stage and kept the right channel connected to the interconnect of the arm.
Left channel quiet, right channel humming.
Then… I reconnected the arm interconnects into the phono stage and move the PDR arm to the center of the T/T platter with the motor running, to see if the motor was the guilty component.
Strange, I had a little less hum with the arm near the running motor.
Then, I’ve put back the arm to his resting place on the right side, which is closer to, closer to…
To the main power transformer of my Decware amplifier which is just beside the T/T.
The main transformer of the Decware is not more than 6” away from the arm/cartridge.
Interesting !
Could it be the 50Hz magnetic field of the Decware main transformer affecting/contaminating the PDR arm and originally the Rega RB-301 arm ? ??
I’ve decided to disconnect everything and move the Decware further away from the T/T.
I did a switcharoo, if you look at the picture of my set up from left to right you have the T/T, the Decware and the Bottlehead Crack.
Now it’s the T/T, the Bottlehead Crack and the Decware.
Now the main transformer of the Decware is about 18” away from the PDR arm. 
No more hum. Alleluia, bravo, hourra, youppi…
I’ve fix the problem myself, well, O.K. I guess I was lucky, but come on, give me a little credit here, I’ve worked so hard to find that simple problem, simple, now that I’ve found it and knows what it is.
That could have been a lot easier, if I would have used my noggin.
Now, that I know what I know, I will try the Bellari VP-129 just to see if the problem is gone and I will let you know later on.
Why it never crossed my mind, that the set up in my other house was different. If I remember, the amplifier was not close to the turntable.
Well, now that I found the problem, I will be able to enjoy my vintage vinyl (Ventures, James Last and more…) and I will be able to sleep at night or do something else in the bed.
Anyway, thanks to all of you trying to help me with your experience and knowledge.
Its fun to see that AC members are ready to help another AC member in distress.
A special THANK YOU to Perry for his generous gift, the PDR Super linear arm.
Does the PDR linear arm sound better than the Rega RB301? Honestly, I can’t tell, but it does not sound worst that’s for sure and now my Rega turntable P3 with its awesome PDR linear glass tubes arm look SUPER COOL and will generate lots of interesting comments and make me proud to own such a nice vinyl spinner.
Thanks Perry and all.

Guy 13
I will be back with result of the test I will do with the original Bellari phono stage.



 


Guy 13

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #189 on: 2 Nov 2014, 08:57 am »
Hi all.
In my previous post I mentioned that I wanted to try (Again) my Bellari VP-129
to see if I would have the same problem as before with the Decware amplifier main transformer moved away.
Well, I (Still) have a mix of hum and Radio Interference,
not as loud as before, but still loud enough to anoy me.
In addition, the ProJect Phono box DC sounds better than the Bellari,
the Bellari sound thin.
So, the Bellari is returning in it's box and in the corner
with other inferior audio stuff.
End of the story.

Guy 13
One last comment:
Many of my LPs are 40 years + old,
so I cannot expect the same quality as LPs bought recemtly.
Anyway, I still keep them because of nostalgia.
 

Minn Mark

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #190 on: 2 Nov 2014, 11:55 am »
guy 13,

Quote
One last comment:
Many of my LPs are 40 years + old,
so I cannot expect the same quality as LPs bought recemtly.


I have LPs from the '50's, '60's and newer.  If you assemble a reasonably good system (you need not spend tens of thousands $$) you will definitely hear how great older LPs sound. I have some 78 rpm discs that will startle you how good they can be. A truthful system will also show you bad some new recorded LPs can be. SO fear not--hunt through the bargain bins, shop online, etc, etc. Old vinyl can be some of the best sound there is !

Cheers,

Mark

Guy 13

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #191 on: 2 Nov 2014, 11:59 am »
guy 13,


I have LPs from the '50's, '60's and newer.  If you assemble a reasonably good system (you need not spend tens of thousands $$) you will definitely hear how great older LPs sound. I have some 78 rpm discs that will startle you how good they can be. A truthful system will also show you bad some new recorded LPs can be. SO fear not--hunt through the bargain bins, shop online, etc, etc. Old vinyl can be some of the best sound there is !

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Mark.
Thanks for your recommendation.

Guy 13 on planet Vietnam.

Once, I went to a vinyl, Cd store and his used vinyl were all around 25 USD each.
No thanks.

neobop

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Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #192 on: 2 Nov 2014, 03:48 pm »

I’ve fix the problem myself, well, O.K. I guess I was lucky, but come on, give me a little credit here, I’ve worked so hard to find that simple problem, simple, now that I’ve found it and knows what it is.

Give you a little credit here?   You were floundering, unable to deal with hum from an unknown source.  Perhaps this helped a little?

A phono cartridge requires much more gain than other sources to amplify the signal to useable levels.  That makes it susceptible to noise and especially magnetic interference.  Is it possible those unshielded wires run close to the turntable motor or some transformer?   Maybe you can move the wires around, or the phono and get it to stop.

The only reason I'm pointing this out is because it's exactly what I meant by "problems which they were able to work out"  I think most DIY participants  would have a better understanding of magnetic fields.

PDR,
Once again, sorry for not revising my post, but nowhere is the word liar used.   It's also out of context and I think the greater meaning has been explained now, if not previously.

Good job Guy.
neo

 


jtwrace

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Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #193 on: 2 Nov 2014, 03:57 pm »
Good, glad it's fixed.  Maybe we can lock this thread now.   :green:

brooklyn

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #194 on: 2 Nov 2014, 03:59 pm »
Congratulations on your hum less audio system Guy, good job..

Guy 13

Re: A phono preamplifier is not a FM receiver !
« Reply #195 on: 2 Nov 2014, 11:09 pm »
Good, glad it's fixed.  Maybe we can lock this thread now.   :green:
Hi jtwrace.
O.K. lets wrap it and put that behind me/us.
However, let's not forget it, because that was a good experience
and could be useful one day.
Thanks all.

Guy 13