[Skylab]

Yes you'll need a pre-amp to bring the phono signal coming out of your turntable onto line signal. Schiit has a phono preamp. (But i'm sure others in this thread know of better alternatives)

Turntable -> phono preamp -> amp -> speakers/headphone

...

Note that while this is generally true, this particular TT, the Numark TTUSB, has a built in phono preamp, with a phono/line switch. I'm sure the built in phono preamp can be bettered by even one of the $50 phonopreamps.com models, but strictly speaking, the TT can be connected directly to an amp with the rear panel switch in the LINE position.

 

[BLACKENEDPLAGUE]

Well schitt, specs look like hell

 

[analogsurviver]

  Well schitt, specs look like hell

TT specs are veeeeery strrreeeeeeeeetchy - measured how, according to which standard, etc. 60 dB unweighted is quite good, so is 0.1% or less W&F - if measured with a test record, taking everything into account. 
 
Then again, I am eyeing an Onkyo - but that has 30 years under its belt and did cost one hell of a lot more than the present one does. 
 
I would really appreciate an objective test with mesurements - for those, who can read German, a comparison between TEAC and Onkyo : http://diepresse.com/home/techscience/hightech/4684599/PlattenspielerTest_Teac-TN-300-vs-Onkyo-CP-1050?gal=4684599&index=10&direct=&_vl_backlink=&popup=

 

[BLACKENEDPLAGUE]

According to google translate, the article said the Teac won hands down

 

[analogsurviver]

  According to google translate, the article said the Teac won hands down

Yes - but mainly to built in phono preamp and USB, and of course lower price. And AT 95 cart fitted as standard.
 
I feel Onkyo would benefit from cartridge upgrade - a LOT. There is a test with measurements in German Stereoplay, but I can not find a free link to that test. http://www.testberichte.de/a/plattenspieler/magazin/stereoplay-4-2015/418629.html

 

[BLACKENEDPLAGUE]

  Yes - but mainly to built in phono preamp and USB, and of course lower price. And AT 95 cart fitted as standard.
 
I feel Onkyo would benefit from cartridge upgrade - a LOT. There is a test with measurements in German Stereoplay, but I can not find a free link to that test. http://www.testberichte.de/a/plattenspieler/magazin/stereoplay-4-2015/418629.html

 
I did not see any kind of details, GT is pretty awful.
 
built in usb and phono pre is a big turn off, personally. If the Onkyo had like an AT-150MLX it could possibly be pretty awesome

 

[analogsurviver]

   
I did not see any kind of details, GT is pretty awful.
 
built in usb and phono pre is a big turn off, personally. If the Onkyo had like an AT-150MLX it could possibly be pretty awesome

TEAC unit is catering to new and first time users of vinyl. Not the crowd that goes for:
 
aftermarket stylus BETTER than original/cartridge/separate tonearm/turntable/TT power supply/mat/clamping system/dedicated TT support/dedicated phono cable/phono preamp
+
stylus force gauge/alignment protractor/stylus cleaner/azimuth adjustment tool(s)/test records/record cleaning machine
 
Onkyo would have been much better even with an AT 95.
 
AT-150MLX is only wishful thinking in a TT that retails at EUR 499. AT-150MLX costs from EUR300/$330 and up on its own. Even if that could be brought down say to 200-250 level by bulk purchase by Onkyo, that is the least what it would have increased the cost of the TT.
 
In German forum I did get to see that arm height is fixed - no VTA a la Technics 1210, hopefully there is some screw to allow to adjust the height of the tonearm . Micro Line stylus DOES require precise VTA/SRA adjustment - if this can not be made, a lesser stylus tip profile will always provide better overall result.

 

[Mrtn77]

Hello all,

A while back, I wrote about a hum problem that I had trouble with. Since I'm still suffering from it, I thought I'd post back. I've copied my first below, with my intial findings.
 
As suggested by Skylab, I looked at power conditionners, but found none that would make sense from a budget point of view (I paid 300 euros for the TT and can't justifiy paying that again for an accessory now, however useful it might be).
 
Since first posting, I've taken care to isolate RCA cables from speaker cables and power cords as much as possible, which did seem to attenuate the problem somewhat (hard to be sure), but never solved it.
 
More significantly perhaps, I've also noted that the TT was liable to hum when unplugged from the Surge Protector. Does this shed new light on my issue ?
 
Or should I, at this point, give up on Pro-ject altogether and try to send the thing back to Amazon, from whence it came ? I tried contacting Pro-ject (even getting in touch with boss Heinz Lichtenegger) and their French ditributor, and both refuse to honour warranties for Amazon-purchased products.
 
If I should send it back, could anyone recommend another model, hopefully for less than 700 euros, that would solve my issue ? Would the new Speedbox equipped Carbon Esprit, advertised as having a better power-stage be advisable ?
 
Much lookign forward for help and suggestions.
 
 
 
I made a short clip illustrating the problem here :  
 
My set-up is as follows :
Pro-ject Carbon Esprit, with Ortofon 2M Red
Rega Fono Mini phono preamp
Atoll In30 integrated amp
Dali Zensor 1 speakers
Nuforce Icon HDP DAC
I use the Pro-ject RCA cables that came with the turntable, which is grounded to the pre-amp.
All this is connected to the same surge protector (Belkin Surgemaster Gold as it's called), as are a PC and a monitor.
 
The hum shown on video is triggered randomly. Often many times during a single listening session (today, for instance I heard it at 4:08, 4:21, 4:27, 4:38, 4:46, 4:52 and 17:01PM, typically I hear that sound for a few seconds before it stops and eventually starts again), some days not at all. I sometimes get the hum when the turntable is not actually turning (as in teh video). I hear the hum on both channels.
 
I've used three different turntables : my own Pro-ject Carbon with an Ortofon cartridge, a Rega RP1 with another Ortofon cartridge (an OM5e) and my vintage ERA 444 with a Shure cartridge (not sure  what the model, other than it's a p-mount), and get that same hum with both modern-day Ortofon-fitted turntables and not at all with the ERA. I've also used a different pre-amp (a cheap TC-4 pre-amp) and got the hum with it as well.
 
I've put ferrite chockes on the TT cables, to no avail.
 
I'd be very grateful for some help with this as the issue's driving me mad.

 

[analogsurviver]

  Hello all,

A while back, I wrote about a hum problem that I had trouble with. Since I'm still suffering from it, I thought I'd post back. I've copied my first below, with my intial findings.
 
As suggested by Skylab, I looked at power conditionners, but found none that would make sense from a budget point of view (I paid 300 euros for the TT and can't justifiy paying that again for an accessory now, however useful it might be).
 
Since first posting, I've taken care to isolate RCA cables from speaker cables and power cords as much as possible, which did seem to attenuate the problem somewhat (hard to be sure), but never solved it.
 
More significantly perhaps, I've also noted that the TT was liable to hum when unplugged from the Surge Protector. Does this shed new light on my issue ?
 
Or should I, at this point, give up on Pro-ject altogether and try to send the thing back to Amazon, from whence it came ? I tried contacting Pro-ject (even getting in touch with boss Heinz Lichtenegger) and their French ditributor, and both refuse to honour warranties for Amazon-purchased products.
 
If I should send it back, could anyone recommend another model, hopefully for less than 700 euros, that would solve my issue ? Would the new Speedbox equipped Carbon Esprit, advertised as having a better power-stage be advisable ?
 
Much lookign forward for help and suggestions.
 
 
 
I made a short clip illustrating the problem here :  
 
My set-up is as follows :
Pro-ject Carbon Esprit, with Ortofon 2M Red
Rega Fono Mini phono preamp
Atoll In30 integrated amp
Dali Zensor 1 speakers
Nuforce Icon HDP DAC
I use the Pro-ject RCA cables that came with the turntable, which is grounded to the pre-amp.
All this is connected to the same surge protector (Belkin Surgemaster Gold as it's called), as are a PC and a monitor.
 
The hum shown on video is triggered randomly. Often many times during a single listening session (today, for instance I heard it at 4:08, 4:21, 4:27, 4:38, 4:46, 4:52 and 17:01PM, typically I hear that sound for a few seconds before it stops and eventually starts again), some days not at all. I sometimes get the hum when the turntable is not actually turning (as in teh video). I hear the hum on both channels.
 
I've used three different turntables : my own Pro-ject Carbon with an Ortofon cartridge, a Rega RP1 with another Ortofon cartridge (an OM5e) and my vintage ERA 444 with a Shure cartridge (not sure  what the model, other than it's a p-mount), and get that same hum with both modern-day Ortofon-fitted turntables and not at all with the ERA. I've also used a different pre-amp (a cheap TC-4 pre-amp) and got the hum with it as well.
 
I've put ferrite chockes on the TT cables, to no avail.
 
I'd be very grateful for some help with this as the issue's driving me mad.

It IS the turntable - no conditioner can help in such a case. The same with chokes.
 
There IS a loose/bad/nonexistent earth connection "somewhere" - the buzzing you get when approaching by hand to the tonearm confirms it. 
 
Use an ohmmeter and check for the continuity of the earth connection. In short - arm tube/headshell SHOULD be grounded - but you will have to go trough entire contraption to figure out where the contact went bad or did not exist in the first place. NAD 5120, a TT made by the same factory some 30 years ago, also has the same problem - only worse. If the arm tube is carbon, that is going to be impossible to do unless dismantling the whole tonearm, making a decent connetion with the headshell, running an additional wire within the tube/trough bearing section... - but it is the only way to do it right.
 
Interesting policy Project has for selling over Amazon ....

 

[yeahx]

  It IS the turntable - no conditioner can help in such a case. The same with chokes.
 
There IS a loose/bad/nonexistent earth connection "somewhere" - the buzzing you get when approaching by hand to the tonearm confirms it. 
 

Possibly even the wall? I've lived in a house with bad or non existent ground. Tried different plugs or giving it its own surge protector/power strip. Sorry if these are silly suggestions, just throwing them out there. Hope its not the table but I may have seen this issue mentioned somewhere before.

 

[analogsurviver]

  Possibly even the wall? I've lived in a house with bad or non existent ground. Tried different plugs or giving it its own surge protector/power strip. Sorry if these are silly suggestions, just throwing them out there. Hope its not the table but I may have seen this issue mentioned somewhere before.

The nonexistent wall ground can be remedied by the so called nulling. However, since the OP said his ERA turntable ( a SOLID French design from 70s ) does not hum/buzz/make trouble, I do not see this to be likely problem. This is VERY hard to do over distance - I can get sometimes hum/buzz/RFI in my recording mic rig, for no apearent reason - and am doing it for living. Each case can have different solution ...

 

[yeahx]

Yeah it's issues like this that can really drive you crazy. I have been wanting to eventually "upgrade" from the JVC L-F101 I was given to something like a Pro-Ject Carbon. But it has very few things to complain about at least for me. Except for being one of ones that has no free manual to download. I would really like to know what kind of cartridge I could put on it. If it could even use any of the better ones. No idea what the yellow generic looking one on it is, but it's not too bad, especially for free.
 
 

 

[riffer]

Hum with lower end Pro-ject turntables is a known issue caused by improper isolation of the motor. All kinds of info on the net.

 

[Mrtn77]

  It IS the turntable - no conditioner can help in such a case. The same with chokes.
 
There IS a loose/bad/nonexistent earth connection "somewhere" - the buzzing you get when approaching by hand to the tonearm confirms it. 
 
Use an ohmmeter and check for the continuity of the earth connection. In short - arm tube/headshell SHOULD be grounded - but you will have to go trough entire contraption to figure out where the contact went bad or did not exist in the first place. NAD 5120, a TT made by the same factory some 30 years ago, also has the same problem - only worse. If the arm tube is carbon, that is going to be impossible to do unless dismantling the whole tonearm, making a decent connetion with the headshell, running an additional wire within the tube/trough bearing section... - but it is the only way to do it right.
 
Interesting policy Project has for selling over Amazon ....

 
I've picked up a ohmmeter. I'll check things out once I figure out how to get it working.
 
No way I'm dismantling the tonearm however : way beyond my pathetic skills. I'd much rather send the thing back and seek out an alternative TT if I have to.

 

[Mrtn77]

Hum with lower end Pro-ject turntables is a known issue caused by improper isolation of the motor. All kinds of info on the net.

 
Thing is, I'm liable to get my "hum" (if you listen to the video I posted, you'll notice that word might not be the best description) even when the TT is unplugged and the motor's not turning.