Quote:
So I'm back in my own home and got the chance to try out the turntable along with the vinyls and all. The end result was a little disappointing to me.
First off, the phono stage hums because my power source isn't exactly clean. We only have two wall sockets, and I'm using an extension on top of another extension, both of which has most of the sockets used by a router, a modem, my computer peripherals, and etc. So now there is that humming coming on and sometimes it would go off leaving a very soft low volume hum, and climbs back up again. I though it was from the turntable, but turning off AND unplugging it still doesn't diminish any hum. From there I tried to unplug the phono stage itself, presto, the hum stops.
Other than that, the vinyls themselves are very noisy heard from headphones. I have a microfiber cloth, but i guess its not fine enough to get into the grooves to clear out the dusts. Also the sound is generally flatter than the vinyl rips I have of the same albums in my computer.
I guess to chase perfection with vinyl will consume a huge chunk of my time and money.
Challenge accepted.
**edit:
Oh my ABBA Arrival sounds so good. I guess the vinyl records need to be really REALLY clean. (This one was cleaned by the previous owner) also the phono stage isn't humming now. Should start humming any time soon.
Oh dear - FORGOT to write in my previous post regarding hum/noise :
DIGITAL AND ANALOG DO NOT MIX WELL - WORSE IS COMPUTER RIG that puts any amount of garbage back to the power line feeding it ( and everything else in your case ). Try totally unplugging your computer rig from the wall and see if it helps with your phono.
EVERYBODY - try this in your own system:
The worse thing in an analog rig is to have anything with a microprocessor plugged into a wall. A CD /VHS / anything with digital display/player, even if it has power turned off by the power switch, will still cause audible degradation in top analog setups by simply being plugged into the wall outlet. Plug it out - if your analog just went a notch up in quality, now you know what has been holding it back. Some CD/etc players are more, some less offensive in this regard, but none will make your analog sound better if plugged into wall outlet while not in use. I used to carry around a portable battery powered CD player to demonstrate the effect, and people with prohibitively expensive CD players were shocked that overall comparable or better reproduction was possible from a fraction of a fraction of the cost of their on paper far superior stationary wall outlet powered CD player. Portable battery powered CD player will not be the ultimate in anything, but will not feed garbage back to your power line and will not necesitate expensive power conditioning. It can positively surprise with SQ. Get two sets of fast rechargeable batteries and charger for it and you should be well off.
The user manual for Versa Dynamics turntable(s) warns specifically against this; it is so devilishly good that merely plugging a CD player in wall outlet feedeing the Versa will have the effect of throwing sheets from your bed over your speakers. I thought this claim was a wild exagerration - until heard.
Back to earth - does your household electrical connection has any grounding - 2 or 3 wires/contacts in your wall outlet ? If not properly grounded, it can hum like mad - just the fact that your outlet socket in walls have three contacts does not necessarily mean they are all connected properly as they should have been in the first place. Time and time again, after the arrangements for me to come and adjust a phono rig were made, this "simple & trivial" grounding problem kept popping up - sure it will hum, if your entire house is "in the air" ! Almost became household electrician due to this "collateral demage" ...
If not completely sure what you are doing, please have a certified electrician do it for you - safety first.
Your guess unfortunately does have an affirmative answer. Keep it reasonable !
As always, enjoy your music !
P.S: Now you know, first hand, WHY record cleaning was so emphasised in this thread. Back in the day I was your age, the only available Record Cleaning Machine was from Keith Monks - FAR too expensive for me at the time to even consider. Although Knosti or Spin Clean are not as effective as vacuum cleaning, they sure beat nothing at all. KAB vacuum RCM mentioned in this thread is perhaps best bang for the buck - you would have to invest 5 figure in $ just for the cartridge that is so good that "somehow" menages to play music and not noise from the dirty record - but would still sound worse than your present rig with at least Knosti clean records.
