[Guy 13]

Those blue pills is alot cheaper then here

Hi orientalexpress.
What blue pills ? ? ?
Sorry, I don't get it.
Please explain.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Guy 13, even in Vietnam you always must look on the bright side. You might have lost a turntable but you have gained a FM receiver.

Hi bearman2
I don't need an FM receiver,
I already have a good one.
 

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

The rca connectors on your Bellari, from the turntable appear to be very large.  If the Rega has a rca jack block that allows swapping cables, then try a different cable.  Or has the Rega previously been rewired?

I had a hum with the Technics I'm using now.  It was a bad cartridge.  If you get desperate, you can try rewiring the arm yourself.  I think the wires in the typical computer mouse cable might be small enough.  Lots of dead mouses to dissect.  As twisted as the connections to your cartridge appear, you could have a break in the wiring.  Hence the test meter.  I have also had temporary losses of ground with my headshells, as they are detachable.  I know yours is not, that is why I would suspect the wiring. 

I assume Soundsmith checked the cartridge body before re-tipping.  If all else fails, get your local computer guy to bypass the preamp in the Sony and wire up two RCA jacks.

Hi yeldrab.
The Rega was never re-sired and there are no RCA jack block. The interconnects go directly in the arm and I am afraid to take it apart to see what's inside.
I had temporally installed as AT3600L super cheap cartridge and had the same problem with it. With the Rega Exact cartridge it's even worst.
For now, I don't want to dig inside the arm to investigate about the hair size wires.
That's another thing I am not ready to do right now, to go inside the Sony T/T
I am sure that Soundsmith did check the cartridge, the AT3600L cartridge was doing the same thing, that's why I think the problem comes from the Rega arm.
Well, I think I will leave it alone for a while or until my blood pressure has gone back to normal.

Guy 13
 

[orientalexpress]

Hi orientalexpress.
What blue pills ? ? ?
Sorry, I don't get it.
Please explain.

Guy 13

Viagra 

[Guy 13]

Viagra 

Hi orientalexpress.
Does superman needs those little blue pills?
No, well the same here.
That's why until just now,
I did not know what the little blue pills were.
Maybe in 30 years from now, I will need half of a pills,
but not now. 

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Hang in there Guy, sometimes these things take a long time to track down. Don't give up. Keep trying stuff even though you believe the problem is within the arm. You never know.

You mentioned that your interconnect is "Signal Cables" coming out of the Bellari phono stage and going into the Decware amp. If that particular Signal Cables interconnect has an arrow on one end, make sure that both arrows point in the same direction. Listen for the FM station, then flip the two cables the opposite direction to see if the radio station goes away. Sometimes the arrow needs to go in the opposite direction of the signal flow, or from the Decware to the Bellari in your case. It's worth a try anyway.  (Process of elimination = Don't give up.)

Also, have you tried flipping the Bellari wall wart upside down (inverting the AC polarity)? Just a thought.

How about wrapping a few loops of the AC power cable of the phono stage and attaching a big ferrite? Just to see if you can make it go away?

Your turntable runs on 230V but everything else runs on 120V. I would be suspicious about that situation (since you have an RF problem) and try to get everything to run from the same AC source if possible. Sometimes two different AC sources, such as two different dedicated lines or two different power conditioners can cause weird problems. Sometimes the grounds are not the same, and sometimes the AC phase is not the same. You can actually get shocked when running two dedicated lines on two different phases. (More process of elimination = keep on trying.)

Last but not least, sometimes a phono stage is just not designed correctly and it picks up a strong RF no matter what you do. I had the same radio station problem when auditioning a "Whest" phono stage a few years ago. The designer said, "Yeah, that is a problem with my phono stage in a few different locations." I decided not to buy it for that reason.

Keep trying, don't give up......

Hi Quiet Earth.
I am not giving up, but I a definitely slowing down in my search for the problem.
The Signal Cables I have don't have that arrow on them, I had another pair with arrows but can't find them.
However, I did change them from end to end, with out any improvement.
My 230V turntable get it power from the same source which is the auto transformer, but now that you mention that, I will rotate the 230V. AC source for the turntable, even if I think it's not polarized and then, should not make any difference, but I will try.
I don't know were I could find the ferrite you mentioned, any suggestions?
The Bellari works from the walwart 12VAC output, which as a 120V primary
and I did try to rotate it without any success.
Now that I think of it, I will plug the walwart directly into my Majik Buss line conditioner. Might do that this evening, since it's only 8.45pm and my wife don't need me to help her with the remote.
The more I try things, the more I circle around the audio stuff, the more I think the Rega arm is the problem.
I will try a few more things and get back to you later on or tomorrow.
I am not giving up yet, but if something don't happen, I will.

Guy 13

.

[Guy 13]

Hi Quiet Earth.
One last post before I go hit the sack.
I tried to plug the walwart directly into the Majik Buss power conditioner and nothing,
I mean, the same, FM music.
I even reverse the polarity, even if a walwart is not polarized.
I've changed the 12AX7 from NOS Sylvania to the original 12AX7 Ruby.
So, that's it for today.
I will gop to bed now and wont let the bed bugs bite,
if they bite, I will bite them back.

Guy 13

[Wayner]

Hey Guy, I just thought of this.... your speaker wires can also act as an antenna. Do you have any problems with that on other sources?

[Guy 13]

Hey Guy, I just thought of this.... your speaker wires can also act as an antenna. Do you have any problems with that on other sources?

Hi Wayner.
With my CD player it's dead quiet.
Today I will see what other ideas I can come up with.

Guy 13

[Rocket]

Hi Guy,

Did you experience this problem with a previous cartridge?  I can't really offer much help at all apart from my comment.

Good luck

Regards Rod

[orthobiz]

I just started reading this thread and I have no suggestions. However, I have a Rega RB600 and the tonearm grounding is through the two RCA jacks, there is no separate ground wire.

Paul

[YoungDave]

It sure sounds like a wire is picking up the FM.  It will not take much - there is so much amplification on a phono signal that any spurious signal becomes objectionable.

Maybe the shield (ground) lead on one of the tonearm wires has become disconnected, allowing the wire to behave as an antenna.  Suggest you check continuity of the four tonearm wires, from the cartridge connection straight through to the far end that plugs into the phono stage, with a meter on the x1 range.  0 or pretty darn close to 0 ohms is the only correct indication.  Disconnect the cart first - and also, untangle the cart leads and dress them cleanly in place.

[Guy 13]

Hi Guy,

Did you experience this problem with a previous cartridge?  I can't really offer much help at all apart from my comment.

Good luck

Regards Rod

Hi Rod.
I had a AT3600L cheap 20 USD mm cartridge, because my Rega Exact was being re-tipped by Soundsmith
and I had the same problem, maybe a little loud, well, I think?

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

I just started reading this thread and I have no suggestions. However, I have a Rega RB600 and the tonearm grounding is through the two RCA jacks, there is no separate ground wire.

Paul

Bonjour Paul.
I think it's the same for all Rega turntable products.
If you have no suggestions, I have no clue on what to do to solve the problem.
Yesterday, my wife found in a junk box the original walwart that came with the Bellari,
it as the Technic name on it and it's 230VAC in and 12VAC out with 1,000ma.
I've tried it and guess what, still the same problem.
Right now, after all the switching, changing, swapping, disconnecting, re-connecting, replacing
I am out of ideas.
I think the guilty part is the Rega arm/interconnect.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

It sure sounds like a wire is picking up the FM.  It will not take much - there is so much amplification on a phono signal that any spurious signal becomes objectionable.

Maybe the shield (ground) lead on one of the tonearm wires has become disconnected, allowing the wire to behave as an antenna.  Suggest you check continuity of the four tonearm wires, from the cartridge connection straight through to the far end that plugs into the phono stage, with a meter on the x1 range.  0 or pretty darn close to 0 ohms is the only correct indication.  Disconnect the cart first - and also, untangle the cart leads and dress them cleanly in place.

Hi YoungDave
If I want to do a good job at checking the arm's wiring, I have to remove the arm from the turntable
and that's something I did already three times.
O.K. then, I will do it a fourth time, but that's gona be the very last time.
The next time I will touch that arm is with a sledge hammer.
Get back to you tomorrow with 99% sure bad news.

Old Guy 13.

[yeldarb]

Just for the heck of it, try backing the cables off the rca jacks just enough that the metal is NOT contacting the Bellari.  Not enough to break the connection, just get it off the case.

[Guy 13]

Just for the heck of it, try backing the cables off the rca jacks just enough that the metal is NOT contacting the Bellari.  Not enough to break the connection, just get it off the case.

Hi yeldrab.
As soon as I get back from work, yes, at 66 years old, I still have to work,
I will try your suggestion.
That should/will disconnect the ground connection of the are RCA interconnect.
Am I right ?
Makes more or less sense to me, but at this point in my desperation,
I am ready to try anything and everything.
Thanks for that weird suggestion, if it works, I will be the first want to thanks you
and your biggest fan.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Hi yeldrab
Sorry for my late rpost, no valid excuse.
I tried to plug the RCA connectors half way in the input of the Bellari phono and
I could only get a faith sound with plenty of hummm.
Therefore, what's next ?
Well, I will tell you what's next.
I've decided to take apart the interconnect that goes into the pivot of the Rega RB301 arm.
It wasn't easy, everything was very tight.
And clumbsy me, I manage to break off all four wires when I pull out the intercennect assembly.
(See the pictures)
Tomorrow, I will bring the arm and interconnect to a repair man
with a small solding iron and with tiny agile little fingers.
Hopefully, he will do a good job and won't make it worst that it is now.
To be continued...

Guy 13

On the bottom picture look you can see that there is a small flat copper part that makes contact with the arm then the pasrt is inserted in the arm's shaft.
There, I do have a grounded arm. If the thing is making a good contact, of course.

 

[neobop]

Hi Guy,
Of the 5 wires the black is the ground.  The connector at the bottom has 5 connections.  The bottom one for the black ground wire is strapped to one of the channel grounds to the right of it.  That would be either the green or blue wire.  That strap should be defeated.  You should make it so those two aren't connected.   A separate ground wire should be run along with your tonearm wire, from that bottom connector to your preamp ground lug.

That brown piece on the bottom is part of the ground.  It should contact the mating arm part when you reassemble.  The wire code is:
red - right (+)
green - right (-)
white - left (+)
blue - left (-) 

Good luck,
neo

[Guy 13]

Hi neobop
and all AC members that are interested in my Rega RB301 interference saga.
With my ohm meter, I did some intensive and careful wires identification, because I wanted to know what is what
and what goes where.
You will find all my results/findings on the hand sketch below.
Now I know more where I am going.
Interesting is the fact the only one side of the interconnect is grounded to the arm via the little brown metal tab that is supposed to make contact with the arm shaft or tube to ground the arm, but that round thick tube is made of plastic, yes, plastic, and plastic is not conductive, I’ve check carefully with my ohm meter.
Therefore I can conclude without being erroneous, that the arm is not grounded and that’s why I have interference.
Rega, how can you do so much STUPID ?
Now, separating that double connected terminal B might be good, but I don’t think it will make anything better.
There is no way I can add a ground wire other than externally.
Which I tried already, but I will try again after I have separated the ground soldering posts.
Ho my God, no wonder I was born on a Friday 13th.
Are any of you are having as much problems as me with your
Rega ?
Anyway, on Monday the technician will re-solder all the wires according to my hand sketch and then, I will see what I can do about the ground.
I already have an idea, but the technician will tell me if he can do it.
If I had money, long time ago I would have thrown the Rega into an incinerator, so that nobody would have it with all the problems that comes with it.
Stay tuned, more interesting stuff coming.

Guy 13