How is this for bizarre?!? (speakers picking up radio signal) *

Makes sense. I had to rig up an extension for the ground cable coming off my new tonearm cable since the manufacturers make them so damn short. I just bought some cheap copper cable with a plastic coating on the outside. Probably no real shielding there.

 

See what I just posted above. It's not my interconnects. Just my attempt to rig up a longer ground wire for the tonearm.

 

I don't think the ground wire needs to be shielded, the interconnects should be shielded.

Did you get radio signals through your Brinkman?

 

Ha! That happened to me the other day as well. Seemed like there were two other people on the call having the same issue, but millions in the background talking gibberish.

Makes me think of that 'ole sayin'... Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you!

 

Nope and I'm using the same interconnects. Only the tonearm cable changed and also the rigged up extension for the ground cable. This really isn't a big deal. It was just a really odd experience, but sounds like it's pretty common and easily fixed.

 

I can double check. Remind me... how do I know what the "right" direction is for each?

My setup guy actually tested every cable for the "right" direction. He said a few were marked incorrectly. Maybe that is done purposefully?????

 

Something in your system is susceptible to RF interference.

Does it matter which input you have selected? If you were flipping records, then one would assume the preamp was switched to "PHONO"; try another input and see if it still happens. If the volume control affected the level of the noise, then anything after the volume control (line stage, amplifier, speakers, or the wires between those things...) can be ruled out as the component with an RF problem.

 

Well, it looks like it's something with the new TT or setup. I'm sure you'll figure it out.

 

Can't really say if it got louder after I cranked the volume. It was so faint to begin with that I could only hear it with my ear right up to the speaker. Not hearing it this morning, but seems that radio transmissions are stronger late at night. I'll see what I can hear later this evening.

 

Actually, sometimes a twinax cable with a shield floating at one end can be susceptible to RF interference; not always the best cable topology an place where you're getting RF interference. You can just try switching the cable directions, regardless of which is "right" (typically shield connected at source end), in the phono circuit, one by one, to see if it eliminates the RF (presuming you're still getting it, these things can be intermittent and, with radio signals, can be dependent on atmospheric conditions, which can make them more of a pain to troubleshoot). More typically what's done in that kind of circumstance is to connect the shield end that was previously floating to the chassis through a small value cap (which of course would require modding the cable, though you could also just get some cheap, double shielded, connected-at-both-ends cables like the Blue Jeans LC-1 to experiment with).

Also, though, you say the tonearm cable has changed. If there's something new going on that wasn't there before and something has changed, well, the thing that was changed is usually one of the first things to look at.

 

Interesting. When this happened to me, I was using Audio Quest interconnects as well. They are the only tonearm cables I have ever used.

 

I've had this happen to my computer speakers at work. I asked our IT geek about it and he thought I was high or something.

 

Would take an IT geek to recognise the condition. Shouldn't ask a digital expert about an analogue issue!

 

I used to live only 1/2 mile from a commercial radio station and I found that the speaker wire I was using made a great antenna. My solution was to get some ferrite rings and wrap a few feet of the wire through the rings. It worked.

 

Time for new speakers & TT?..

 

Brian, I used to experience your problem with customers' turntables. It wasn't often but when it happened, it was vexing.

The reason you're hearing it is tremendous gain from your turntable system. Don't forget you can easily have 25-45 dB more gain through your phono system than say a CD player. All that gain is just begging to pick up noise, which is what's going on.

It may be coming in through the tone arm's wires or even at the cartridge. I sometimes found that was the case. If you want to test for this, wrap the turntable in aluminum foil. The radio station will go away if the tone arm or cartridge is picking up the radio broadcast. You can also use this trick to troubleshoot the other parts of your turntable system. Wrap the possibly offending component (maybe an interconnect) in aluminum foil to see if you can make the problem go away. This is obviously not a long term solution but will help you figure out where the problem lies.

A bigger question is why now? It has to be a pretty strong RF signal to make your tone arm wires act like an antenna. Do you have a neighbor who is a ham radio operator? Do you see any new antennas in the neighborhood? If so, you might want to knock on their door and talk to them. Most ham radio folks are very knowledgeable and willing to help you solve the problem. I often could narrow the culprit down to an individual, a public safety system (police or fire radio broadcasts) or even a local radio or TV station aiming their transmission in a slightly different direction to better serve their market.

 

Common problem, and a bad one if you're right under a broadcast antenna. Have run into this problem many times on the tops of hills with big broadcast antennas on them.

The solution is to use properly shielded cables. Stop using boutique audiophile cables, Audioquest, Transparent, etc etc etc, they're generally garbage. Use a professional cable (Belden, etc) that's properly shielded. If you can, you may need to use balanced cables. Sometimes it can be a very nasty problem.

 

Brian, I wouldn't complain if she was Amy Winehouse singing to you! I do not think your ground wire is the problem. The station (s) you are picking up are AM, BTW, and the signal strength can become intermittently very strong at night. You need an antenna and gain to receive RFI. Your interconnects are the first suspects. Try moving the selector switch to "Tuner" or "Aux" "CD", etc, and note if the signal changes. Your interconnects may need to be changed to a double shielded type to get rid of it.

Also the cartridge coils can pick up RFI, but more likely a straight wire will do that.

rock on,
Steve VK

 

I had an issue with a ham radio operator leaking nto my stereo system but it's been a while since it happened. It was rare, maybe once every few months. It only lasted a minute or less. It has 't happened in five or six months. Maybe he moved.

I was reading Brian's thread on his new TT and I suddenly couldn't go forward or backward in the thread without an error and when I came out and tried to go to it the thread was gone. Deleted?

 

Apparently deleted. Makes absolutely no sense honestly. Very civil discussion with 11 pages of comments and a lot of uploaded photos. I don't get it.

Anyway, thanks guys. Seems I'm only hearing this late at night. I live at the top of one of the highest hills around, so I'm probably more suceptible to picking these up.

I will try the tinfoil idea to figure out the culprit. Not a huge deal though since I only hear it if I put my ears on top of the speaker.

 

I wanted to say how cool that TT looks and I wish you audio nirvana soon. I can see how it would be something you'd want to figure out regardless how loud it is. If there is a way to remove it, why not do it. Especially if it is the matter of an IC.

 

Yep. I will. Pretty sure I know the culprit since it only appeared after I rigged up a ground wire. I will fix it this weekend.

 

It's even weirder when the amp is off

 

When my daughter is home from college I can hear the soothing tones of each and every text message she sends and receives, sounds similar to the old dial up modem tones.

 

That is the strangest thing? I want to post a comment and I got a message saying that I don't have permission to view this thread after refreshing the page. I didn't know if I had said something that I shouldn't have and I was blocked out of the thread. I didn't think that was the case, but it made no sense. Then I wondered if I was blocked from posting anywhere in the forum, which did not turn out to be the case.

I thought you had a great thread going? I would be curious to understand why if the thread was deleted, if it was, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Anyway, tin foil is an excellent idea. Try around your interconnects.

If you have issues, I agree with trying a well shielded Belden cable from Blue Jeans.

You ground wire does not have to be shielded. At least I have never shielded a ground wire.