Pickering V-15 AT-1 Hum

Hi all. I've got a hum issue with my recently purchased Pickering V-15 AT-1. I've been testing different carts with my current set-up (Pro-Ject Debut Carbon + Acrylic Platter/Marantz 2265B/Heresy 1 Speakers) to find the right fit. (FYI - I've tested the stock Ortofon 2M Red, Nagaoka MP-110, Grado Green 1 Prestige, and a Pickering V-15 AT-1 with a DE Stylus so far, with a Shure M35x waiting in the wings.)

The winners so far are the Grado and Pickering, although for different reason. The Ortofon is just too damn bright and fatiguing. The Nagaoka is an improvement over the Ortofon, as it's balanced and smooth, but it's just too tame.

Honestly, I like the Pickering sound the best in many ways, but... it hums WAY more than the other carts and I'm not sure why. Any suggestions? Are Pickerings known for this?

One problem could be the wiring config, as I lack a reliable diagram and have noticed that different Pickerings have different wiring configs. The back of my cart is not at all clear, with no color codes. So making sure that I've got this right is probably a good place to start. I used this online pic to start:



Thanks!

 

Yeah, Grado and Pickering/Stanton are my favorite cartridges. I don't recall ever reading posts about Pickerings that hum so you may not find a lot of help online, but good luck to you.

 

It should not hum, Pickerings do not hum.
Your picture is an AT-3. There was an AT-2 and AT-1 (yours) as well. They're all basically the same, but the first two, AT-1 (which I've never seen) and AT-2 (have one but I don't remember the wiring), may have a different wiring output. Look at this AT-1 picture which I assume is wired correctly. If they changed the wiring configuration, they changed model numbers to AT-2, and that could have been the only change. All of these carts are essentially similar to the Stanton 500, one of my favorites. Try the different wiring, if it still hums, just find a (newer) AT-2 or AT-3 or ATE-2 or ATE-3 ("E" was for sold with Elliptical stylus) or any Stanton 500 type. Your DE stylus will fit these.

 

Take the ground strap off the body of the cart. With metal head shells that strap will sometimes cause a ground hum.

 

Better yet, back the headshell lead slightly off the connection with the ground strap. Which functionally is the same.

 

I have a Pickering d-5-e with my Stanton 500. I did get a lot of hum when first installing which I thought was a grounding issue as it stopped whenever I touched the cart. With a bit of fiddling and reinserting the stylus it disappeared and has been perfect for months now

 

So my take-aways are a) to check the wiring and b) fiddle!

Now that I've got a few folks with an interest in Pickering/Stanton weighing in... any thoughts on the different carts (AT-1...) and styli used on these? I think that these setups are worth exploring further. Thanks!

 

Not sure about the hum issue, but some of the carts you listed (Nagaoka, Shure) definitely aren't the best match for those lightweight project arms unless you are adding mass to the tonearm.

 

Check out audiokarma for more knowledge about pickering/stanton than you can learn in a lifetime.

 

And better yet, go to Lenco Heaven and see even more knowledge and posts from Richard, the author of the Pickering and Stanton handbook. Who is a local friend.

 

You're a lucky man. Please say hi for me. I treasure his book.

 

I will do so. And he's very nice. I helped him move too, when he got priced out of living in the Bay Area. I also helped him move his household goods, and he gave me my first Lenco.

 

Wow that's cool.

 

Where can the handbook be found?

 

It is temporarily out of print. He's working on getting it back in print soon.