I own a Pro-Ject Debut III and only recently noticed that I have a slight hum and ground noise when I put up the volume. I checked everything out and all is in order! Does anyone know if this is normal or should I look elsewhere to ground better?
i too notice a hum with my pro-ject 111 dust cover does not seem to make a difference. i have the turntable atop a cherry wood rack.and the intergrated(cambridge azur 540A,with built in phono stage,is about ten inches directly below it with one rack in between.
Try moving the amp to where the transformer is as far from the table as you can and see if that makes a difference. I assumed, perhaps incorrectly that you both have the stock Ortofon cartridges...correct?
i am using the stock ortofon cartridge.i think i will move the amp and my cd player.making the amp about about 18" below the turntable and having a cd player in between(each component will be on it's own rack to see if this makes a difference. the "hum" is not really noticeable until the amp is turned up past two or three oclock but is there nonetheless. will let you know if moving the components will make a difference. art do you think the cartridge may be the issue?
Everything is stock and the table is actually a good 4 feet from the Pre-amp. I tried moving it around and that had no effect. I even turned everything else off, moved cables etc and nothing changed.
I had never noticed this before until I accidentally turned the volume knob and then noticed this. I realise that most tables do emit some noise even those that are quite better than mine
The amp was the cause of the hum in my system when I had a Project table. I had an amp on the shelf below it. As soon as I moved the amp further from the table the hum went away.
hmmm......with my set up i can't move the amp any further away from the TT,i have a beautiful custom built cherry wood rack,i will have to live with the hum....it is only noticeable when the volume is turned up way loud,without a record on of course. art in your opinion would a rega P3 most likely not hum??? i know you cant know for sure,,,but also know you have loads of experience with audio. also i have the cambridge "soundcard" phono stage do you think a different phone stage could solve the issue????
Mitchell, I have a lot of experience listening, but very little with technical issues.
Some folks have experience hum with P3's and that has been partly dependent on the cartridge they chose and the location of the table. Mine has never hummed.
I'm not familiar with your phono stage. Is it a real phono stage or a soundcard?
Hum is somewhat natural on most phono systems, particularly when you have to advance the volume control a good amount to hear the sound with no other signal present.
There are, however, some sources of hum that can be traced and minimized. The first is to make certain all of your components have the same polarity to the incoming AC power. If your AC plugs do not have a polarized plug, you should try reversing the plug on one component at a time and listen for less hum. If the plugs are polarized, buy a cheater plug and trim the ears off the one side and try reversing the polarity of the line. If you use a subwoofer, this could be the problem.
If the low level hum is present when the table is not spinning, the problem is mostly in the phono section of the pre amplifier. Most pre amps have a two conductor AC cable and this could easily be the source of the noise. There's not much you can do about this problem other than make certain your cables are properly dressed so interconnects do not lay parallel to AC cables. If they must cross, they should do so at a 90° angle. Otherwise, keep the cables as far apart as possible. Moving the phono interconnect away from the area of any power transformers inside equipment would possibly help the situation. If the table uses a detachable interconnect, try a different interconnect. Try an interconnect with the shield lifted at one end, usually the source end. Make certain both the pre amp and table are powered from the same AC circuit. If you plug the two into a single wall outlet, make certain the polarity of the wall outlet is the same on both outlets and that there is no ground problem with the outlet. You can buy an AC outlet tester for a few dollars at any home improvement store.
If the noise is present only when the table is running, there are other possibilites. If you don't have the table and pre amp on a good AC line conditioner, borrow such a device from a dealer. Most line conditioners dedicated to use on turntables clean the incoming AC and provide a stable AC waveform for the synchronous motor to latch onto. If the table uses an AC motor, try a line conditioner meant for turntables. If the table uses a DC motor, this should be a problem for hum.
You can try grounding both the pre amp and the table to the center screw of the AC wall outlet. Run a ground wire from the pre amp's phono ground lug to the wall plate and the table's ground wire to the wall plate. Have the volume control at it's lowest level and advance the control slowly while listening for hum.
Most importantly, clean all your connections from the phono lugs on the back of the cartridge to the phono input of the pre amp. Use DeOxit or Pro Gold to do the cleaning. You don't have to scrub the connectors, and will be better off if you don't, but clean all connection points thorougly.
If you still have noise with the vc advanced, go to your dealer and ask to listen to a similar pre amp to determine if this is normal for your system. Some noise is virtually always present in lower priced gear. If you have to advance the vc past two O'Clock to hear the noise with no other signal present, you're probably asking too much of your equipment and the hum won't be heard beneath the music anyway.
A post from Frank Abela regarding hum back in Mar, 2005. The PP2 is a phono stage.
"Please remember that most phono stages are more prone to hum since they are amplifying such small signals in the first place, the signal to noise ratio isn't so hot. Things you can do include the following tips:
1. Attach the ground wire to the earthing post on the PP2. (There should be one!)
2. No effect above? Well, try attaching the ground wire to the ground post on the amplifier, if there is one. If there isn't one, undo one of the screws of the amplifier casing and attach the ground wire there instead.
3. Still no effect? Get an extra length of wire. Attach the ground wire to the PP2. Attach the new wire between the PP2's earth point and the amp's earth point (see above if no earthpoint on the amp).
4. Still no effect? Try moving the PP2 (phono stage) away from the amplifier. You may be experiencing hum from the amplifier's mains transformer which the PP2 is picking up (all phono stages are susceptible to this, pretty much)."
"Try binding the earth wire to a known earth location such as a central heating radiator."
Since most homes in the US don't use steam heat any longer, you might try the above mentioned center screw on the AC wall plate. It is a common earth ground point for any well done electrical system.