Rega Planar 2 and Nagaoka MP-150 buzzing noise

VinylRescue

Member
I have a Rega Planar 2 (purchased Dec 2017) and had been using a Ortofon MC-3 Turbo with great success with no buzzing and is really quiet. I recently bought a Nagaoka M-150 to play and it initially played great until I noticed a bad buzzing noise I can't resolve. I mainly use my Schiit Mani on my Rega, but I tried my Cambridge Audio Azur 551p and ART DJ PreII and still get buzzing. The guy I bought it from said it may lack a some sort of ground strap like the AT carts have? I'm thinking it may partly be due to the Planar 2 specifically having internally grounded RCA cables and has no external grounding at all. It sounds best on my Mani using MC settings, but when I set it to MM it sounds severely muffled. The buzzing is very audible until the music starts. Any ideas?
 
I'm afraid I'm more the take it to dealer and let him deal with it kind of hobbiest, but have you tried putting the MC-3 Turbo back in the Rega to see if it's still buzz-free? If so, that might at least eliminate possible damage during the cartridge change as a source of the problem. You might also try the Nagaoka in your Pioneer or AT turntables to see if the cartridge is quiet in either of those. I got some nice help from the Audio Connection in Seattle when I had issues with a buzzing sound using a Well Tempered into my Audio by Van Alstine preamp. We never did figure out the problem--the WT's wiring tested out fine, but it was the only 'table that buzzed into the AVA preamp. A Grado phono stage solved my problem as it was quiet with the Well Tempered (and was a great match for the Grado cartridge I had wanted to use, anyway).
 
I replaced and soldered in a new shielded and gold plated RCA cable and ran a dedicated ground wire and still has the same buzzing. I'm going to doing some audio samples with it to my Mani and then to my Cambridge Audio and put back on my MC-3 Turbo and do the same audio samples and post a video on YouTube for all to hear. For what ever reason I think it may be due to the Moving Permolley type of set up that it is. It worked fine on my AT before swapping to my Rega. I'll even try out my Pioneer to see how it likes it too. It's a great cart, but I want it to work on all my turntables and preamps. What exactly is the "Well Tempered" you mentioned. Is it a different type of cart leads or a filter or what? I found Audio Connection as it's just up north of me. Thanks for your input.
 
Good luck with your buzzing woes. I have a Rega RP3, and now that the M97xE has been discontinued, I was thinking about a Nagaoka as a replacement, but not if that buzzing sound is the result. I'll probably just choose something from what the dealer stocks; if there's buzzing, he'll take care of it.

Well Tempered refers to a turntable brand. I had the Well Tempered Record Player, their entry-level model. Art Dudley did a review that gives some good information about it.
https://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/1106listening/index.html
 
After using the process of elimination I finally figured out what was causing the buzzing - my Novation Audiohub 2x4 has given up the ghost! Got it going through my computer's sound card and it sounds fine. Time to shop for a new USB audiohub!
 
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