onemonk909
Active Member
My Pioneer pl-518 has been in faithful service since I got it in 2018. Was playing it every day but life has intervened recently...and also I have been using my backup TT, a Crosley c100bt (not nearly as bad as I thought it would be...in fact I like it a lot!).
Tried spinning a record on the Pioneer today for the first time in a month or so, and there is a persistent hum in both speakers.
The hum is constant, before platter even starts spinning, and does not go away when music is playing.
I always remove the headshell (and in fact I wonder if removing it and putting it on over the years has caused wear and tear damage), but I took it off again and cleaned connectors on headshell and in the tonearm. Still humming.
I checked grounding wire, but I have not touched it, either on the TT or the preamp, in years. Maybe I should tighten anyway.
I also unplugged wifi router, which is in the same room. Still humming even without the router on.
So, any ideas? I have read that old Pioneers eventually pick up a permanent hum, and I am wondering if this is what has happened to mine...and if so, how is it fixed?
Other notes...since 2018 I unplug when not playing, as I have the TT plugged into a power switch. Is it better to always leave TTs plugged in and the strip turned on?
In the meantime, it's back to the Crosley (actually a Hanpin, I think the manufacturer is named -- Crosley just put their name on there), which is cool because it has Bluetooth!
Thanks!
Tried spinning a record on the Pioneer today for the first time in a month or so, and there is a persistent hum in both speakers.
The hum is constant, before platter even starts spinning, and does not go away when music is playing.
I always remove the headshell (and in fact I wonder if removing it and putting it on over the years has caused wear and tear damage), but I took it off again and cleaned connectors on headshell and in the tonearm. Still humming.
I checked grounding wire, but I have not touched it, either on the TT or the preamp, in years. Maybe I should tighten anyway.
I also unplugged wifi router, which is in the same room. Still humming even without the router on.
So, any ideas? I have read that old Pioneers eventually pick up a permanent hum, and I am wondering if this is what has happened to mine...and if so, how is it fixed?
Other notes...since 2018 I unplug when not playing, as I have the TT plugged into a power switch. Is it better to always leave TTs plugged in and the strip turned on?
In the meantime, it's back to the Crosley (actually a Hanpin, I think the manufacturer is named -- Crosley just put their name on there), which is cool because it has Bluetooth!
Thanks!
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