Record player + two Era 100. Massive Hum

  • 21 September 2023
  • 22 replies
  • 520 views
D

Hi,

It was my wife’s bday yesterday and I she wanted a record player system. So I brought the 

Pro-Ject T1 Phono SB Turntable
2 Room set with Era 100
Sonos Line in Adapter

I spent yesterday evening setting the system up while my wife excitedly went to get a number of albums from the record store. I think I spent just under $1000 which was a big chunk of money.

As soon as I turn the record player on we get a massive hum. I have tried all the settings, unplugging and plugging the system. Probably around 3 hours of trouble shooting last night following posts and reviews. 

You can hardly hear the music on the speakers over the loud hum and it is very annoying.

I’m now reaching out the community for help. I’m at my wits end and my wife was understandably very upset we didn’t get a differet record player and speaker set.

Anything else I should try? I’ve tried attaching the grounding wire and this does not work or make a difference. I’ve tried multiple settings in the app leading to a very quiet hum where you can hardly hear the music.

I’ve tried switching the wire around, moving the speakers and still no joy.

Please help

Thanks

22 replies

G
Userlevel 7

Make sure the switch on the back of the turntable is switched to LINE OUT not PHONO OUT. And double check all of your connections. You can also change the Source Level setting under the Line-In settings for the Era 100s in the Sonos app to see if it makes any difference.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D

Thanks GuitarSuperstar,

System is set to LINEOUT, I’ll recheck the connections again.
I have tried changing all the settings under line-In. I have tried connecting to both left and right speakers. Thanks for your help

G
Userlevel 7

Thanks GuitarSuperstar,

System is set to LINEOUT, I’ll recheck the connections again.
I have tried changing all the settings under line-In. I have tried connecting to both left and right speakers. Thanks for your help

You can also try plugging the turntable into a different outlet or power strip.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

If it doesn’t have a polarized plug try flipping it over.

Try a different RCA cable and make sure it is fully inserted.

If you have another device with a line-in try the turntable on that.

Same for the 100, if you have another device with a Line-out try that.

Narrowing the problem down is going to make fixing it easier.

D

Thanks both for your help and replies. I have tried plugging and unplugging the wires and have moved the turntable and speakers around the house.

I need to buy a new plug and rca cables to try. I’ll also try and get a device with a line input.

you can hear the hum as soon as I turn the switch on the turntable on. 

 

buzz

I’d want to check the turntable’s power supply. If you have a Voltmeter, in DC mode the power supply output should measure 15V. In AC mode the reading should be near zero.

R
Userlevel 2
Badge

What have you attached the ground wire running from the turntable to?

I

D

Thanks Buzz - I’ll have to get a voltmeter

rising - See pics below. I have changed the wires at both ends. I wish I could upload a short video on the forum so everyone can hear the hum. I have tried swapping the wires around and the hum is still there

 

 

G
Userlevel 7

@DaveRecordplayer I wonder if the black adapter you are using is causing the issue. Have you tried using a standard RCA to 3.5mm audio cable like this?

https://a.co/d/dn13P5Y

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
D

Thanks ordered. Will Report back once I have installed it.

@Stanley_4  - Any ideas for a polarized plug I can get

R
Userlevel 2
Badge

Thanks Buzz - I’ll have to get a voltmeter

rising - See pics below. I have changed the wires at both ends. I wish I could upload a short video on the forum so everyone can hear the hum. I have tried swapping the wires around and the hum is still there

 

 

Looking at the picture it seems you don't have the ground wire (the spade connector) connected to an actual ground. This could cause a significant hum. Try touching it to any sort of bare metal whilst playing. Normally amps with a phono input used to have a specific ground lug for this when hooking up a record player.

R
Userlevel 2
Badge

See here for some more info. 

What is a Turntable Ground Wire and Do You Need One? - Pro-Ject USA

You will have to find some sort of bare metal nearby, perhaps some piping from central heating or even some metal from the stand. As long as its bare.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Thanks ordered. Will Report back once I have installed it.

@Stanley_4  - Any ideas for a polarized plug I can get

You don’t want a polarized plug.

What you want to do is unplug the turntable from the wall, invert the plug and reinsert it if that is possible.

With the noise only happening when you switch the turntable on it makes it possible that it is defective.

Do you have another audio source you could hook to the Sonos input connector to test?

D

Hi Everyone,

thanks for your help. First up I got two new sets of wires from Amazon.

in my testing the hum continued. With all 3 sets of cables we did notice that we lost the main vocals were missing and came back at the chorus. It was almost like it was missing a channel but the hum and music were coming out of both speakers. This was happening with all three sets of cables.

We still can’t fix it and we’re unable to get hold of Sonos on Thursday or Friday following my wife’s bday.

Therefore I will try on Monday to get hold of Sonos and send the record player and speakers back. It is just not worth my time and hassle especially as there are other systems out there that do work (sorry for venting here).

Seemed a great system however it’s not fit for purpose for us.

i now believe that either

  1. Something is not working on the record player. The stylus or the line out
  2. i have a bad SD01 wire to the speaker

The reason I’m thinking this is it did all work perfectly with the Amazon basic wire for 20 seconds until I placed the lid down and the hum came back and we lost vocals as before

Thanks for everyone’s help most appreciated 

David

 

D

We also tried the plug and that didn’t solve things either but thanks for the suggestion 

buzz

 

The reason I’m thinking this is it did all work perfectly with the Amazon basic wire for 20 seconds until I placed the lid down and the hum came back and we lost vocals as before

 

This suggests an intermittent connection in the turntable. Make sure that all plugs are fully seated in their socket.

Is this hum always present, or only when the stylus is in contact with a record? Does the hum level vary as you move the arm while the stylus is not touching a record?

SarahN
Userlevel 6
Badge +14

Hi,

This may not be a possible solution but you could consider using an external phono pre-amp whereby the ground cable would connect to the pre-amp? This would be extra cost of course - here in the UK you would be talking about approx £70-£100 for a half decent one (Pro-Ject make a couple of low cost options).

You would then switch your turntable’s pre-amp switch to PHONO, then connect the Pro-Ject cables to the Input connects on the back of the pre-amp and attach the ground cable. Then get an RCA to mini jack connector to connect to the output side - RCAs into Output of the pre-amp and mini jack to your Sonos adapter. I had to do this with my Pro-ject turntable (although connected to a Five speaker) as my turntable did not have an internal pre-amp. This might solve your hum as the turntable would be properly grounded. Maybe try to get a pre-amp whereby you can return it for a refund if it does not work? I find those Pro-Ject cables are normally very good at solving the hum issue so long as the turntable is grounded. Also if you do this, make sure the connects with the yellow arrows go into the pre-amp and not the turntable end. 

 

Can you have too many Sonos speakers? 🤔 😆
T

Hi

 

I appreciate this thread is now quiet but I have just bought an Era 100 to connect to my Rega Planer 2 which I have had for many years - using a Project Pre amp which I had used with a Denon mini system for amplifcation.

 

I am getting the same humming sound and can’t eliminate - what did you buy in the end to get a working system?

The Rega has no output switches to later settings.

 

Thanks

 

Tim   ( UK based ) 

C

Hi. I had the same issue and an external pre amp fixed it for me however I haven’t tried using an rca without a ground. I think that is the problem that if there is one both sides need to be grounded

J

Problem resolved 

I only joined to answer the question with what worked for me.  I had gotten a project t1 turn table (TT)and era 100 for my wife to play records and group with the rest of our Sonos in system.  No mater where I had the line out /phone out switch it was quiet or wouldn’t play music. I started switching wires on the fly while the TT was spinning a record and no improvement then I slide the switch while it was playing music from phono out to line out and it started playing loudly.  I believe the switch is a little touchy and flicking it back and forth with a little authority caused it to work. I have not touched the switch yet.  I believe the line selection is at the very end of the throw of the switch.  (Kind of like a bad light switch that has to be held in the on position) The ground wire being connected or not connected does not affect the sound. (Maybe fine tuning it may improve something) Meaning it plays fine whether the ground wire is connected or not connected.    
 

that’s my story and I hope it helps someone else. 

buzz

Sometimes a slide switch will develop an intermittent insulated spot. If the switch stops on that spot, there will be a poor connection. My suggestion is that you disconnect the turntable’s RCA connection and rapidly move the switch from side to side - do this 30 or more times. This action tends to wear away the  insulating spot.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I have found contact cleaner to be helpful, particularly in areas that had bad air quality. This is a liquid applicator version that is easy to apply to precisely where you need it with no over-spray. I’ve used it on switches but also RCA and headphone/mike jacks that were becoming noisy.

 

https://www.amazon.com/CAIG-LABORATORIES-D100L-25C-Contact-Cleaner/dp/B0000YH6F8/ref=sr_1_45

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