Doesn't the Pyxi have its own independent ground line between itself and the turntable? I would think that you shouldn't add more ground lines to either end. From the cable's weave or anywhere else. This may cause a loop.
SOTA Pyxi Initial Impressions
- Thread starter mprince
- Start date
mprince
Super Member
To be clear I am talking about the cable from the Pyxi output to my preamp input. The cable from my tonearm is a continuous run from cartridge tags to RCA's and is quite conventional (and not something that will be changed). Or are you talking about floating the shield on both ends of the Pyxi - preamp cable?
Yes. If the Pyxi has one independent ground line which goes between the turntable and the Pyxi.
mprince
Super Member
Pyxi still sounding good, just listened to my 45 rpm copy of Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" and it sounded fantastic. I'm not touching anything regarding Pyxi placement or cabling unless I get a reason to, I'm not going to try and fix something that's not broken at this point 
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Mister Pig
Pigamus Maximus
Pyxi still sounding good, just listened to my 45 rpm copy of Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" and it sounded fantastic. I'm not touching anything regarding Pyxi placement or cabling unless I get a reason to, I'm not going to try and fix something that's not broken at this point
Sounds like you are keeping it then?
mprince
Super Member
Yes, it's been a bit of a weeklong journey, but it's staying.
Mister Pig
Pigamus Maximus
Good to hear. I think its a great time for vinyl people. There are a bunch of great choices between the Pyxi, the various Darlington, and the Dynavector phono stages.
Yeah, I'd let it sit there and absorb good karma. I'm a firm believer in that sort of thing.Pyxi still sounding good, just listened to my 45 rpm copy of Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" and it sounded fantastic. I'm not touching anything regarding Pyxi placement or cabling unless I get a reason to, I'm not going to try and fix something that's not broken at this point
mprince
Super Member
Me too, a lot of folks helped me through my insanity this week chasing noise, much appreciated. Now it's time to listen (when I get back next weekend from our 30th anniversary trip to Prague, flight leaves in about 8 hours, guess I should start packing and stop listening to records)
mprince
Super Member
Back from vacation, listened to a couple records yesterday and more today on the Pyxi, still going strong. Based on Mr. Boochie's advice a few posts back I built another cable set today to use from the Pyxi to the preamp - Mogami 2549 mic cable (2 conductor) with some nice KLE Copper Harmony plugs - shield floated on both ends. Still no unwanted noise, happily playing music...
mprince
Super Member
Everything still going strong with the Pyxi. Had a surgical procedure yesterday to remove a 16mm kidney stone, today is a R&R day so I expect some records to be spinning today through the Pyxi. Got everything situated now in final locations with good cable lengths/paths. No noise whatsoever.
mprince
Super Member
Time for an update - have been swapping phono stages in/out over the past month as well as my 2 cartridges and doing quite a bit of listening.
With both of my cartridges (AT OC9XML, Ortofon Cadenza Blue) the SOTA and my Rothwell SUT/MM stage are very close, but the Rothwell stage wins. Not sure if it is the influence of the SUT, but the Rothwell is just a bit better than the Pyxi to my ears.
Edited to remove reference to poor performance with the Rothwell/Ortofon.
With both of my cartridges (AT OC9XML, Ortofon Cadenza Blue) the SOTA and my Rothwell SUT/MM stage are very close, but the Rothwell stage wins. Not sure if it is the influence of the SUT, but the Rothwell is just a bit better than the Pyxi to my ears.
Edited to remove reference to poor performance with the Rothwell/Ortofon.
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mprince
Super Member
Rothwell combo back in play for the time being. Unfortunately, my mystery noise has reappeared on the Pyxi (even with the SUT connected to it) over the past day or so, and when I reconnected the Rothwell SUT/MM with the Cadenza this morning things sounded a lot better than two days ago. Not sure if perhaps one of the original connections between SUT/MM/Pre was not solid, or if it was a specific recording on Wednesday that sounded bad. But all is well now in my phono set up.
Is it safe to say that the sound of the setup is changing from day-to-day, on its own?
Thanks!
mprince
Super Member
Not exactly on its own, there have been cartridge and phono stage changes over the past several days.
Edit to add - folks reading this should not take my comments as disparaging the Pyxi. It is a fine phono stage and the noise I am hearing (and writing about) originates elsewhere in my system/environment and is being transmitted through the Pyxi. I've had similar issues with other phonostages. As I said, the Pyxi is great, but it's also up against another fine phono stage in my Rothwell combo, which is roughly 3x the cost...
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Have you considered getting something like an isolation transformer to clean up the power to some of the gear? It’s pretty odd that you are still getting noise even with an SUT plugged in as well.
I have two of these Panamax 5510 ACRegenerators that is basically a power conditioner, but for four power outputs it has its own isolation transformer (nothing too high power should be plugged in to those, no amp or anything like that).
www.soundandvision.com
I’m wondering if something like this might help you since your problem doesn’t seem to be confined to a specific piece of gear. I think there’s also other stuff on the market to this that is similar.
I have two of these Panamax 5510 ACRegenerators that is basically a power conditioner, but for four power outputs it has its own isolation transformer (nothing too high power should be plugged in to those, no amp or anything like that).
Panamax Announces Max 5500 AC Regenerator
The quality of electrical power is often the limiting factor for high performance audio and video systems. Many manufacturers have attempted to address this limitation---caused in large part by electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI)---by designing and marketing...
www.soundandvision.com
I’m wondering if something like this might help you since your problem doesn’t seem to be confined to a specific piece of gear. I think there’s also other stuff on the market to this that is similar.
mprince
Super Member
I really don't know, I'm already using a Furman power conditioner. At this point I'm grateful that I can use the Rothwell SUT and MM stage with zero issues (not sure what happened there the other day but it is resolved, I blame user errorHave you considered getting something like an isolation transformer to clean up the power to some of the gear? It’s pretty odd that you are still getting noise even with an SUT plugged in as well.
I have two of these Panamax 5510 ACRegenerators that is basically a power conditioner, but for four power outputs it has its own isolation transformer (nothing too high power should be plugged in to those, no amp or anything like that).
Panamax Announces Max 5500 AC Regenerator
The quality of electrical power is often the limiting factor for high performance audio and video systems. Many manufacturers have attempted to address this limitation---caused in large part by electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI)---by designing and marketing...
I’m wondering if something like this might help you since your problem doesn’t seem to be confined to a specific piece of gear. I think there’s also other stuff on the market to this that is similar.
). For the foreseeable future that will be my phono stage of choice. With that in the system there's simply no noise issue to worry about or throw more money at.
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Just to be sure for your system, the Rothwell is the drug-of-choice. Which model is the Rothwell?I really don't know, I'm already using a Furman power conditioner. At this point I'm grateful that I can use the Rothwell SUT and MM stage with zero issues (not sure what happened there the other day but it is resolved, I blame user error
