Technical Difficulties Thread

MikeH

MikeH

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Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
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Location
Tarrytown, NY
Thought it might be good to have a catch-all thread for issues people may be having with Turntables/Amps/Cartridges/Speakers, etc...I've seen a few questions in the upgrade thread instead since they didn't really fit anywhere. I guess I'll start it off with some audio issues of my own.

I've had some issues recently with my speakers having a little bit of a hiss...the sound does not go up when I turn the volume up. It's not super noticeable, but if I am close up to them I can definitely hear it. Sounds more like a breeze/static than a feedback kind of hum...

I bought a panamax (which I was going to do anyway) but the hiss is still present. Others on here thought it might be a ground loop hum...but not entirely sure how to fix it. I live in an old, pre-war apartment building with bad electricity. We only have two circuits in our apartment, lights, fridge and most outlets are on one, and there's one dedicated outlet for AC...my question is, does anybody know how to fix this? My gear is the following:

TT: Vinyl Nirvana Thorens TD-150 w/ Ortofon Bronze cart
Amp: Rotel RA-1570
Pre-Amp: Musical Fidelity - LX-LPS
Computer plugged in via USB using the Rotel internal DAC
Speaker Cables: Zu Audio Libtec
Speakers: KEF R300s.

The TT ground wire is attached to the preamp's grounding post. Any thoughts? Is it just something I might be stuck with for now in my current living set up?
 
MikeH said:
Thought it might be good to have a catch-all thread for issues people may be having with Turntables/Amps/Cartridges/Speakers, etc...I've seen a few questions in the upgrade thread instead since they didn't really fit anywhere. I guess I'll start it off with some audio issues of my own.

I've had some issues recently with my speakers having a little bit of a hiss...the sound does not go up when I turn the volume up. It's not super noticeable, but if I am close up to them I can definitely hear it. Sounds more like a breeze/static than a feedback kind of hum...

I bought a panamax (which I was going to do anyway) but the hiss is still present. Others on here thought it might be a ground loop hum...but not entirely sure how to fix it. I live in an old, pre-war apartment building with bad electricity. We only have two circuits in our apartment, lights, fridge and most outlets are on one, and there's one dedicated outlet for AC...my question is, does anybody know how to fix this? My gear is the following:

TT: Vinyl Nirvana Thorens TD-150 w/ Ortofon Bronze cart
Amp: Rotel RA-1570
Pre-Amp: Musical Fidelity - LX-LPS
Computer plugged in via USB using the Rotel internal DAC
Speaker Cables: Zu Audio Libtec
Speakers: KEF R300s.

The TT ground wire is attached to the preamp's grounding post. Any thoughts? Is it just something I might be stuck with for now in my current living set up?
Click to expand...

This isn’t a ground loop. That would be a hum.

I’m thinking the cause is multi faceted;

Possible garbage being fed back into the AC like from the refrigerator.

Do you possibly have any dimmer switches in use? Turn them off. Is your system quieter? Dimmer switches suck.

Is the hiss from all sources or just your turntable? If it’s just your turntable then it may be caused by your cartridge. The Ortofon 2m series has a really high output- like 7-8mV. Something not so “hot” may help.

If you can’t hear it from your listening chair, don’t stress over it.
 
HiFi Guy said:
This isn’t a ground loop. That would be a hum.

I’m thinking the cause is multi faceted;

Possible garbage being fed back into the AC like from the refrigerator.

Do you possibly have any dimmer switches in use? Turn them off. Is your system quieter? Dimmer switches suck.

Is the hiss from all sources or just your turntable? If it’s just your turntable then it may be caused by your cartridge. The Ortofon 2m series has a really high output- like 7-8mV. Something not so “hot” may help.

If you can’t hear it from your listening chair, don’t stress over it.
Click to expand...
Appreciate the response. No dimmer switches in our apartment. I'm guessing something like the fridge is the culprit. The hum happens on any input, regardless of whether or not a signal is going through it.

If the fridge is the culprit, is there any solve to it that I can do on my end that won't break the bank? It's one of those things that bothers me now that I have heard it, but it's not super noticeable when music is playing...
 
MikeH said:
Appreciate the response. No dimmer switches in our apartment. I'm guessing something like the fridge is the culprit. The hum happens on any input, regardless of whether or not a signal is going through it.

If the fridge is the culprit, is there any solve to it that I can do on my end that won't break the bank? It's one of those things that bothers me now that I have heard it, but it's not super noticeable when music is playing...
Click to expand...

Do you have 3 prong plugs in your apartment? A cheater plug may work.
 
HiFi Guy said:
Do you have 3 prong plugs in your apartment? A cheater plug may work.
Click to expand...
Yes we do have 3 pronged outlets, although I did notice that not all outlets actually have grounds...I plugged my Panamax into one and it said the outlet wasn't actually grounded despite the outlet having 3 prongs. I plugged it into another outlet though and that one is grounded.

I did see something about cheater plugs in my research, but then also read that they are not particularly safe.
 
I’m having some issues with this stylus all of a sudden. Ortofon concord 20. Won’t track whatsoever and just slides across the record. This came out of no where but when I looked at the stylus it didn’t look right but I’m not sure what could have happened. Before I mess with the tone arm I wanted to get y’all a opinion on this. 5C869B1C-7CFD-42B9-8D37-921E112CBB6E.jpeg
 
AC Slaughter said:
Here is a close up. Sorry it’s a bit blurry but it’s the best I could do. View attachment 45194
Click to expand...

I can’t tell how the stylus looks from these pictures. Have you used a liquid stylus cleaner by chance? Ortofon expressly forbids this. I’ve seen this cause the diamond to fall off of the cantilever. This causes the exact problem you describe.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I can’t tell how the stylus looks from these pictures. Have you used a liquid stylus cleaner by chance? Ortofon expressly forbids this. I’ve seen this cause the diamond to fall off of the cantilever. This causes the exact problem you describe.
Click to expand...

No I haven’t used that but that still may have happened somehow. I assume the stylus is toast if that’s the case. I adjusted the tone arm a bit but it made no difference whatsoever.
 
AC Slaughter said:
Dang not great news but it is at least 35 years old so i guess it was bound to happen. I appreciate the help. I guess the question now is do I try and find a replacement stylus or just get A new car altogether . Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

A stylus is far cheaper than a new car. :)

Here is a genuine Ortofon stylus. Don’t skimp on quality and get a generic replacement.

www.musicdirect.com

Ortofon - OM-series Replacement Stylus | Shop Music Direct

www.musicdirect.com
 
Haha yeah that is definitely cheaper than a new car! I meant cartridge, autocorrect betrayed me. I saw that one, but $200 is a bit more than i want to spend, so I may just try and get something new altogether. I am sure there is a recommendation thread for those around here somewhere.
 
AC Slaughter said:
Haha yeah that is definitely cheaper than a new car! I meant cartridge, autocorrect betrayed me. I saw that one, but $200 is a bit more than i want to spend, so I may just try and get something new altogether. I am sure there is a recommendation thread for those around here somewhere.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've seen a few cartridge recommendations around these parts...
 
AC Slaughter said:
Haha yeah that is definitely cheaper than a new car! I meant cartridge, autocorrect betrayed me. I saw that one, but $200 is a bit more than i want to spend, so I may just try and get something new altogether. I am sure there is a recommendation thread for those around here somewhere.
Click to expand...

Look at the choices: the OM10 stylus fits for $62.
 
AC Slaughter said:
Dang not great news but it is at least 35 years old so i guess it was bound to happen. I appreciate the help. I guess the question now is do I try and find a replacement stylus or just get A new car altogether . Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

If you order from the UK you can get it for £130 (approx $160) including delivery if that makes it more appealing. As a US customer you don’t pay VAT so they take that off in the cart when you choose US as the shipping destination.

www.analogueseduction.net

Ortofon Stylus 20 (Stylus Replacement For OM Cartridges)

Ortofon Stylus 20 Replacement Stylus for OM Cartridges Replacement stylus, recommended for the following cartridge models: Super OM 20, OM 20, OMP 20, OMB 20, LM 20, Concorde 20, LM 20H, TM 20U, TM 20H Please note, all cartridges within the OM range have the same fitting, so they can all fit the...
www.analogueseduction.net
 
Joe Mac said:
If you order from the UK you can get it for £130 (approx $160) including delivery if that makes it more appealing. As a US customer you don’t pay VAT so they take that off in the cart when you choose US as the shipping destination.

www.analogueseduction.net

Ortofon Stylus 20 (Stylus Replacement For OM Cartridges)

Ortofon Stylus 20 Replacement Stylus for OM Cartridges Replacement stylus, recommended for the following cartridge models: Super OM 20, OM 20, OMP 20, OMB 20, LM 20, Concorde 20, LM 20H, TM 20U, TM 20H Please note, all cartridges within the OM range have the same fitting, so they can all fit the...
www.analogueseduction.net
Click to expand...

Oh thanks! This is a bit more in the price range of what i was looking for. How does this stylus compare to the Grado Gold 2 or Audio-Technica AT-VM95ML, which I see recommended quite a bit and are in that same price range?
 
AC Slaughter said:
Oh thanks! This is a bit more in the price range of what i was looking for. How does this stylus compare to the Grado Gold 2 or Audio-Technica AT-VM95ML, which I see recommended quite a bit and are in that same price range?
Click to expand...

You’ll end up paying a lot more for the Grado because you’ll need the full cartridge rather than the stylus. The current one Gold3 is about $260 delivered.

The OM20 is the equivalent to the blue in the newer ort 2M series. I much prefer my Gold2 to the blue I had before and the 3 is meant to be better again!

I don’t know with the AT sorry.
 
Joe Mac said:
The OM20 is the equivalent to the blue in the newer ort 2M series.
Click to expand...

If this is the case then replacement is probably the way to go since everything is already set up for that stylus/cartridge, I don't have to worry about trying to figure out how to reset everything up for a new cartridge.

Edit
Is this not the full cartridge and stylus? I am sure I am missing something.

Grado Prestige Gold Phono Cartridge Stylus | Audio Advisor

Grado's Optimized Transmission Line (OTL) stylus/cantilever design provides an ideal transfer of the signal from point to point, e.g., stylus to cantilever to magnet to coils, etc. This has been achieved by eliminating resonance at each of these key junctions.
www.audioadvisor.com
 
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