Help....local radio station coming through my phonotstage!

It could be any number of things, really. Your troubleshooting steps are good and assuming you tried a different interconnect between your phono stage and amp, everything leads back to your turntable. If you have access to another one, I'd suggest plugging it in just to verify that the issue disappears when doing so. My guess is it would.

Unfortunately, at that point, I couldn't guess where, within the turntable, the issue might be located or what would fix it. I admit I would be terribly disappointed if something similar were to happen to me. If I understand correctly, your turntable is 2 weeks old and only now started showing these symptoms?

 

I see you have a CMII amp. The only time I've gotten RFI in my system was using that amp. I'm inclined to wonder if it's something with the amp, but you said the noise is new. Do you have another pair of cables to try, and have you tried a different pair of input jacks on the amp?

FWIW, I've had two pairs of AQ RCA cables suddenly crap out on me. I wouldn't rule out the cables.

 

But did the RFI you experienced with the CMII come on suddenly or was it always there?

 

Seems that your Rega arm may be acting as an antenna. Someone here already said that. I have no experience or opinion of either a Rega or a VPI. But if I were in your shoes, and had my eyes set on a Rega in the first place, I'd probably give Rega another chance, and get it exchanged for another unit. If the other unit has the same issue - you will know that Rega is not for you.

 

It was intermittent. Never did figure it out because I only had the amp for a few days. It also had transformer hum, so maybe it was just a lemon.

 

Have you seen reports of others experiencing the same symptom or were you (perhaps until now) the sole CMII user to encounter this specific problem?

 

What caught my attention is that you mention that it only happens when you connect the left channel cable from the turntable. I didn't see it mentioned by anyone else (but I may have missed it) but Rega connects the ground to the left channel cable in lieu of a separate ground wire.

Quote from Paul Darwin from another forum:

"All of our turntables do, obviously, have earthing, not via a separate wire as some others but via a dedicated earth via the left channel connections."


I don't know what this means in terms of what you are experiencing but it may indicate something with the Rega grounding scheme is acting as an antenna.

 

I've read of others encountering transformer hum but not the RFI. I doubt that's the OP's issue, but figure it won't hurt for him to try swapping inputs.

 

That's great info, thanks!

I've read about a number of people who've had issues with Rega's creative grounding scheme. My own experience was with a refurbished model that needed to be returned twice after which I said "forget it" and had my father-in-law buy a Marantz TT15S1 instead. He never regretted it and there was a dedicated ground nut in the back.

 

Ok so a few more steps....

I swapped inputs in the back of the CMII and still there but lower.
I swapped cables. I was using Cinnamon and switched over to Blue Jeans. Still there. However, cables do matter. The Cinnamon's clearly offer way more detail than the BJC.
My dealer told me to move the table to the bottom position on my rack. Said that the lower you go the better chance of killing the signal. So the CMII is going on the top spot and I'll move the turntable down below.

Again when I touch the arm the signal is magnified.

 

LOL. Careful, this could accidentally send us into a tailspin off topic.....

 

Partial success (for now)! Ok ...I swapped out the Cinnamon cables. I had a spare set and now the station is almost gone. I have to turn the volume up past 12 o'clock (50%) to even hear it. Normally I stay right around 10 o'clock and hit 11 when I'm feeling especially rowdy ;-)

 

Did you swap inputs to the furthest jacks from the ones you were using originally?

 

Uhm, do you want the table on the bottom?

 

Forget it. It's back and it's loud.

I'm done for now. Going back to my digital for now.

 

They are right next to each other. No choice.

 

Honestly no.

 

3 things I think may nip this in the bud: move the amp to the lowest point, not the turntable.

Stick with the cables that lowered the noise and move them to the furthest jacks from the starting point,

Make sure all your components are plugged into the same outlet.

 

The dealer's suggestion is laughable for a few reasons. They can't expect you to bend down to that extent every time you play or remove an LP. That's utterly ridiculous. Secondly, there's no correlation between moving the turntable downward and the signal being lessened.

Bottom line ; if this were me, I'd bring the turntable back to the dealer and get another one. If it still happens with the 2nd one, I'd return it and look for a different brand altogether. To me, that makes the most sense, although I recognize it's a pain in the neck to go through this process. Once you're set up with a turntable which doesn't act this way, you'll be glad you went through it all so don't give up. I know it's easy to say but try not to get frustrated during this process.

We're in your corner and you will, one way or another, end up with a turntable that'll play only music YOU choose.

 

Try switching the channel wires right to left at the cartridge and see if the left channel only business described above continues.

Earlier in the thread it was suggested a bad solder joint could cause this by turning the connection into a diode. This is correct but a) it can be any connection, not just a solder joint, even tarnish on a connection like an RCA plug can cause it and b) a diode detects AM radio, and you say you recognize this as an FM station, which is weird. Does the station also broadcast on AM?

 

Not that I'm trying to add more confusing factors but this member had the same issue and ended up replacing his amp which solved the issue.

I am Receiving Radio Signals Through My Phono Section

However, I'd concentrate on the turntable first, in this case.

 

AMP is already at the lowest point. Turntable at the highest.

All power is plugged into the Furman conditioner.

Cables do not matter. All three are giving me the same noise level now.

 

No it is only an FM station. A very popular classic rock station that covers the Lehigh Valley.

 

I LOVE MY AMP. The problem with swapping tables is I have to mail everything back to my dealer and that costs me almost 100.00 a pop. But I realize it is a good suggestion.

 

Actually, not laughable at all..... Moving the components to different positions to see if the effect of the move changes the RFI is one way to find a remedy. RFI has no set answer to prevent.