help! I'm getting a hum sound coming from turntable

A

ade007

Enthusiast
I have the old technics SL-QD33 turntable connected to my yamaha 3300 receiver but i keep getting a humming sound. I see a ground connector on the yamaha receiver. Is there a grounding wire i can buy? I called radio shack, frys, best buy, guitar center, all the store have no grounding wires. Pleas help.
 
MUDSHARK

MUDSHARK

Audioholic Chief
Your table should have ( and needs) a ground wire. Check and see if it needs replacing. As you mentioned the receiver will have a ground terminal by the phono input. Check needle doctor or such sites catering to vinyl for replacements with connectors. You make have to take apart the table to attach.
 
G

gus6464

Audioholic Samurai
Your table should have ( and needs) a ground wire. Check and see if it needs replacing. As you mentioned the receiver will have a ground terminal by the phono input. Check needle doctor or such sites catering to vinyl for replacements with connectors. You make have to take apart the table to attach.
Not all TT have grounding wires. Some Regas don't have an external grounding wire on the tonearms. The RB250 and RB300 are like this.
 
C

chadnliz

Senior Audioholic
If you table needs grounded, Rega, Onkyo and others dont ground then maybe you have an old appliance, headphones or something that doesnt work just chop some wire and try grounding it to recievers chassis...by crimping between a frame screw for example.
 
skizzerflake

skizzerflake

Audioholic Field Marshall
I have the old technics SL-QD33 turntable connected to my yamaha 3300 receiver but i keep getting a humming sound. I see a ground connector on the yamaha receiver. Is there a grounding wire i can buy? I called radio shack, frys, best buy, guitar center, all the store have no grounding wires. Pleas help.
If you don't see a ground wire, it might have been snapped off. Look underneath to see if you see a stump of a green wire. If you find that, you can replace it with any insulated wire; nothing special is needed. Hook it to the receiver. Ground wires are often pretty flimsy and break off. You might have to unscrew a panel covering the bottom of the table.
 
E

Exit

Audioholic Chief
You can ground the turntable by loosening any screw that is going into metal, wrapping the bare wire end aroung the screw and retightening. If you have a grounding terminal on the receiver you strip the end of the wire and connect it there. If you want to be certain of the ground, turn off all power to the equipment and do a point-to-point continuity(ohm) check from a piece of metal on both pieces of equipment. If your get a reading, then you are properly grounded.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Audioholic Jedi
RIAA input

Does your receiver have a phono RIAA input? If not you need a phono preamp.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
... I called radio shack, frys, best buy, guitar center, all the store have no grounding wires. Pleas help.
There is probably not much call for that by that name. :D
Use a single run of wire between the component if you need to, say an 18ga wire, or left over speaker wire. Grounding wire problem solved.:D
 
G

gus6464

Audioholic Samurai
There is probably not much call for that by that name. :D
Use a single run of wire between the component if you need to, say an 18ga wire, or left over speaker wire. Grounding wire problem solved.:D
The ground wire usually goes from the tonearm out through the DIN connector. He might actually be missing the ground inside the tonearm which would make it a lot more complicated.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Audioholic Jedi
I have the old technics SL-QD33 turntable connected to my yamaha 3300 receiver but i keep getting a humming sound. I see a ground connector on the yamaha receiver. Is there a grounding wire i can buy? I called radio shack, frys, best buy, guitar center, all the store have no grounding wires. Pleas help.
I have looked into your turntable connection to that receiver. As I expected that receiver does not have a phono RIAA input.

We have been over this again and again. A turntable produces a very low signal, usually 2 to 4 mv. Also there is treble pre emphasis that has to be corrected on playback according to the RIAA curve. Receivers and amps of old had a high gain input that corrects the RIAA curve. These are not usually provided these days. A CD player or DVD player outputs around a volt, bot 2 to 4 mv lika a turntable.

So you need one of these.

http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/Phono-Preamps
 
Last edited:
A

ade007

Enthusiast
Thanks for your replies. I have been feeling a bit under the weather, please forgive my silence. I found this. http://www.needledoctor.com/Technics-Ground-Wire. What do you think of this? If this works, how do I connect this? I also checked out the phono-preamps, looking at those prices I might as well buy another turntable. I have had this turntable for a long time and it did work without me buying a phono preamp. It never got a humming sound.

Thanks.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Audioholic Jedi
Thanks for your replies. I have been feeling a bit under the weather, please forgive my silence. I found this. http://www.needledoctor.com/Technics-Ground-Wire. What do you think of this? If this works, how do I connect this? I also checked out the phono-preamps, looking at those prices I might as well buy another turntable. I have had this turntable for a long time and it did work without me buying a phono preamp. It never got a humming sound.

Thanks.
You HAVE to HAVE RIAA correction. There are lots of preamps at the Needle Doctor for less than $100. A new turntable will need RIAA correction unless you buy one with a phono preamp built in, most don't have. Without RIAA correction LPs sound awful, plus you have to advance the volume and get hum. I doubt a grounding lead will solve you problem. You can easily test to see if it will stop the him. Get any piece of wire. Touch it to the turntable chassis and the metal of your receiver case. If that does not do it, then touch the wire from arm base to receiver chassis. If the hum does not stop with either of those then the grounding wire will not stop it either.

Do you have a multimeter? If so check the continuity of the grounding from cartridge pin connectors to the RCA output jacks. Also check that the arm is grounded to the jacks.

I suspect in addition to you having improper gain and no RIAA correction, you have a ground interruption from one of the two cartridge grounding pins, the pickup arm, the turntable chassis or a combination.

LPs can sound very good, but you have to do it right.
 
G

Gretschen

Audiophyte
My solution was low-tech. I just moved the power cord so it wasn't touching any other wires. Hum stopped.
 
H

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
The ground wire usually goes from the tonearm out through the DIN connector. He might actually be missing the ground inside the tonearm which would make it a lot more complicated.
What DIN connector? You mean RCA?
 
H

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
My solution was low-tech. I just moved the power cord so it wasn't touching any other wires. Hum stopped.
That'll do it, too. For future reference, power cords shouldn't be run close to any cables carrying signal and if they need to cross, do it at a right angle. Running the power cord parallel to signal cables causes hum to be introduced, as you found out.
 
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