Sansui 4000, Distortion in Phono Channels

[Sam Kingston]

Hey everyone,

I’m brand new to the vintage world, and I picked up a Sansui 4000 receiver yesterday and have come to find that there’s some pretty nasty distortion in both the phono channels. The signal seems much louder than it ought to be. Additionally, I can hear signal from Phono 1 while the selector knob is on Phono 2, though the right channel is definitely more clear, both do come through, and oddly enough, without distortion, but a good bit of noise. All the other channels sound great.

I followed some advice on other forums and cleaned the contacts on the phono board and selector switch, and everything looked okay, but the distortion prevails. I’m wondering if anybody has any other insight that could lead to a solution?

Thanks!

 

[Bruno Primas]

Does your turntable have a built-in preamp? Is it turned on?

If it does, it needs to be turned off.

 

[milo63]

Like Bruno said, modern USB type turntables can plug into standard "line" level inputs because modern equipment doesn't have PHONO inputs with built-in RIAA amplification.
Plug in your phone/MP3 player on very low volume and slowly turn it up, if it sounds OK it's your TT overdriving the input.

I've got a 4000 on the bench now for new caps and a good scrubbing, mine has some issues but it's pretty easy to work on.