Project Debut Carbon DC – A solution to the noise/hum problem

Hi all

Long-time lurker here, coming out into the open to share my solution to a problem that effects many owners of the Pro-ject Debut Carbon – hum.

When I first plugged in my table there was a loud hum which was obviously a grounding issue. After some research I found this was curable by taking a cable from my pre-amp earth to the earth point on a plug. It’s a solution quite well documented on the web. When listening with the lid open, I had a pretty quiet sounding table.

However, there was a lesser electrical noise in the system that became more prominent as the stylus got close to the spindle. This is what a lot of people term “motor hum” and the solution, in my set up at least, has been to replace the standard power supply.

I was upgrading the PSU to my Graham Slee pre-amp anyway, so I spoke to Paul Baldwin at reelaudio in the UK. Paul made me up a dual rail linear PSU to power both the Graham Slee and my Debut Carbon with the correct filtered, linear DC voltage.

The outcome is that I have no electrical noise from the turntable even at the loudest volumes, a really “black” backdrop. There is no requirement for the custom earth lead either. Even better, my table’s RPM is locked at 33.3 – it was previously fluctuating between 32.8 and 33.1.

For a cheaper price than the Graham Slee PSU1 I have an upgrade to the pre-amp source and a completely silent and steady turntable. This has to be one of the best upgrades I’ve made. I would encourage any Pro-ject owners with noise/hum issues to investigate a linear, filtered PSU. There is no need to break the bank in doing this.