Weird sound from turntable

I swapped out my Ania cartridge for a Hana SL on my Rega P6 yesterday. Right away I started hearing weird sounds that I have never heard before with the turntable (it is almost a year old). Listen to the clip below. The sounds I am talking about are lower in volume than the loudest sound (the standard beginning-of-the-record sound). It's like a "boop boop boop" in between the record clicks. You can even hear it before the record static kicks in. Sorry abut the Dylan at the end but I wanted to leave it in so you could hear how loud it is in relation to the music.

Some notes:
1. I added 3.5 mm of spacers when I changed carts. I have verified that the screws are tight but maybe something happened here?
2. The new cart sounds great other than this sound. No humming, buzzing or other types of distortion (that said, this cart seems to be more microphonic when I touch the headshell than the Ania...maybe a clue? It is dead quiet though when I'm not touching it).
3. I have verified that the cart connector wires are solidly attached
4. The sounds can happen even when the needle isn't on a record.
5. I cannot reproduce the sounds by tapping on the plinth or any part of the tonearm
6. The "boops" sound regularly spaced in this clip but they are usually random; sometimes isolated, other times they will be rapid fire.
7. Comes out of both channels. Right channel is mostly boops. Left channel will beep and boop (much more rare than the boops). The beep sounds almost digital. Very odd.
8. Yes, I have tried multiple records

Let me know what you think.

 

How long does the drive pulley take to make a full rotation? Same amount of time from one boop to the next?

 

Just curious, what setting are you using on the preamp transformers? The lowest? Same for both cartridges?

 

Yes, I am using the 278 ohm setting on my Allnic (lowest dB). Used the 117 ohm setting on the Ania but the noise is the same on the 117 with the Hana.

 

The sound is random and can repeat much faster than the drive pulley rotation. The loudest sound on the recording is not the one that is concerning, it's the softer sounds in between.

 

I can't listen to the recording right now, but could it be a tube problem in the preamp? Do you have another preamp? Might have to change back to the Ania to see. I don't really have any other ideas, I think the Rega uses the captive tonearm cable to the preamp, right? Their own preamps use very high capacitance on the MC inputs to reduce noise susceptibility.

 

Unfortunately I don’t have another preamp. Man, I really don’t want to put the Ania back on after all of that alignment work.....

 

does the sound happen when nothing is playing? like the tonearm is up or at rest and the platter is spinning?

 

Sounds like it's picking up cell phone signals from some where try shut off your phone. Hope you prevail.

 

Yes it does

 

Thanks, will try that

 

Ive had a similar problem lately with my speakers giving louds pops every few hours even at 0 volume.

Turns out it was a new replacement fridge we installed that caused them.

This year I also figured out that the hum from my Rega is caused by the heaters being turned on for the winter times. Its silent in the summer.

There could be any number of problems here but try to see a pattern where there is something else you recently changed besides the cart.
And again, could it be related to winter perhaps?

 

I used to get that too but when I dressed my interconnects making sure they are as far away as possible from the power cords (insulated ones at that) the noise disappeared.

Try rerouting your cables, especially the phono leads and try to move the phono pre as far as possible from other components, excluding the TT, but even the motor can sometimes cause interference.

 

Have you been to Arizona? It doesnt get below 60 F. Any interference would be in the summer when they have to run the AC because it is 120.

 

Nope. I live in Sweden, extra cold and dry.
As long as you see the pattern to whats causing the problem it can be solved.

 

Definitely sounds like a rotational noise.

 

Thanks everyone. The problem has been much reduced the last few days so I am suspecting some temporary or spotty electrical interference as many suspected. Will spend some time with it over the weekend and report back.

 

That clip sounds like an edge warp on a lead-in groove. The cartridge body bottoming out at the peaks and troughs of the warp. Also is tracking weight correct? That can make that situation worse if its not. Do you have the original mat on the table? If not, that could make the spacers less effective if the mat is taller.
-Bill

 

Ok, I feel confident that I identified the issue. Static electricity. I bought an anti-static brush that I use to discharge each side prior to playing. The problem has gone away. There is still the occasional blip when the tone arm is on the stand but no noise while playing. If I move a record that hasn’t been brushed towards the needle, it goes off like a Geiger counter. The Ania wasn’t this sensitive but, like many on the board, I think the Hana does sound better.

 

The clips sounds does not sound like static though. Static pops are usually more sharp and HF. Youre records must have been extremely static if it caused noise without playing though, and so you know a brush most likely wont remove all static if thats what you want.

 

Sounds like a repetitive letter "V" in Morse code. It's a "James Bond" kind of turntable?

 

The "Geiger counter" type sound is static. Get a Zerostat and use it property -- record and mat and platter held in free space, slow squeeze and release aiming at multiple different points on the surface. That little "boop, boop, boop" sound on your old video sounds like some kind of mechanical tonarm/plinth/cart noise, but if you say it's not regular like that normally, then I'm not sure. However, it doesn't sound like static. If, however, you're getting those little pinging noises while the arm is at rest and no record is spinning, it's not mechanical noise. It's likely as other posited earlier, some induced noise relating to a wifi router or cell phone or some similar transmit and receive digital devices in the vicinity.

 

Agreed.