I've recently completed my first turntable build with parts acquired from Temadd Audio. This included a uni-pivot tonearm with the main arm being from composite material and the base of course all metal. The plith is made from walnut and the motor is mounted in a separate chassis using a very thin poly line belt to drive the platter. I've mounted a Grado Prestige Gold cartridge. Balancing the uni-pivot has been a real joy, if anyone has hints here for future reference great, but back to my question.
It plays beautifully and the sound is getting better and better as it breaks in. No hum as I was very careful in wiring with Cardas tonearm cable. But I have pops and it is NOT from the records. I've done comparisons back on my old Harmon Kardon TT, the same album plays crystal clear. The pops come about every 5-8 seconds. It is almost like static build up, even after cleaning the vinyl before playing. I've come to wonder if I've missed something in grounding. I've grounded the tonearm base (nothing to ground on the plith as it's wood) and connected to my tube pre-amp, but because the tonearm is composite the headship and cartridge are isolated from this grounding. Of course the cartridge connections (4 line L/R line/ground pairs) are connected properly or the beautiful sound I'm getting would be beautiful.
I didn't ground the platter/bearing housing/platter support. Didn't think about it in fact until I started writing this post. The platter is white acrylic and sits on brass fittings to the platter carrier base and metal bearing housing.
Ideas anyone? Thanks in advance.
It plays beautifully and the sound is getting better and better as it breaks in. No hum as I was very careful in wiring with Cardas tonearm cable. But I have pops and it is NOT from the records. I've done comparisons back on my old Harmon Kardon TT, the same album plays crystal clear. The pops come about every 5-8 seconds. It is almost like static build up, even after cleaning the vinyl before playing. I've come to wonder if I've missed something in grounding. I've grounded the tonearm base (nothing to ground on the plith as it's wood) and connected to my tube pre-amp, but because the tonearm is composite the headship and cartridge are isolated from this grounding. Of course the cartridge connections (4 line L/R line/ground pairs) are connected properly or the beautiful sound I'm getting would be beautiful.
I didn't ground the platter/bearing housing/platter support. Didn't think about it in fact until I started writing this post. The platter is white acrylic and sits on brass fittings to the platter carrier base and metal bearing housing.
Ideas anyone? Thanks in advance.
Well it must have been as you said DF96, a Van De Graaf generator. I made sure the bearing housing and spindle were grounded well, along with the tonearm. Everything tied back in a star hub to the ground connection to the phono-preamp. Now all pops, other than old records, are GONE!!!
Still not the fondest of trying to balance a Uni-pivot, but I'll keep playing. It does sound great now though. I'll post a few picts next.
Still not the fondest of trying to balance a Uni-pivot, but I'll keep playing. It does sound great now though. I'll post a few picts next.
When you get tired of playing records you could always turn it back into a Van De Graaf and amuse your friends! You would need to identify the breakdown point which was causing the 5-8 second discharge and try to eliminate it.
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