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Question

Low rumble from Five when playing vinyl


I absolutely love my Five speaker….the quality while playing vinyl (and anything else) is amazing! Randomly I get a low rumble when playing vinyl (never had it happen when streaming music). I have read others having this issue….wondering if anyone has found a solution? It's so frustrating and seems hard to replicate to troubleshoot. When it happens though it's unlistenable. Any thoughts?

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10 replies

buzz
  • 23899 replies
  • August 12, 2024

Is the FIVE sitting on the same table or shelf as the turntable? Does the noise occur suddenly when you increase the Volume beyond a certain point? If you have another speaker, mute the FIVE and play another speaker. Does this other speaker exhibit this noise? Is this noise present when the stylus is not touching a record?


  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • 3 replies
  • August 13, 2024

Thanks for your response. It sits on the same piece of furniture/table, separated by probably an inch of wood. Ive tried to duplicate it with volume and it doesn’t seem to matter. The other speaker doesn’t give this noise and its not present when the stylus is not touching the record. As soon as I raise it it's gone. 


Belly M
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  • 1747 replies
  • August 13, 2024

As a test you need to move the speaker off the same piece of furniture that the TT sits on, also try moving it as afar away as possible.


  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • 3 replies
  • August 13, 2024

Thanks for the response. Update, today I noticed that the rumble WAS playing through my other speaker in the kitchen. I moved the audio cable from the turntable to the Five a bit (rotating it) and was able to make it go away. Is it possible that I just need a higher quality audio cable? I really dont want to have to put the speaker somewhere else as it looks so beautiful in my console! Appreciate any guidance. 

 


MoPac
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  • Headliner I
  • 1103 replies
  • August 13, 2024

 Cables do make a difference.  Also wouldn’t hurt to put a trio of small footers under the five.


Belly M
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  • 1747 replies
  • August 13, 2024

See if you can move the TT to the right where the plant currently lives


buzz
  • 23899 replies
  • August 13, 2024

You have multiple problems. Since moving the cables away from the FIVE helped, keep them as neatly bundled as you can. Better quality cables might help somewhat, but position is probably more important and it’s relatively easy to find the “best” position. Due to the proximity in this system, “best” might not be good enough. Keep the power wiring and signal cables separated as much as possible.

A second and third issue are related to the turntable. If you can, drop the stylus on to a stationary record and listen for “acoustic feedback”. As you advance the Volume control beyond a certain point you’ll likely hear a large howl. This is due to the mechanical coupling between the turntable and the FIVE. In difficult cases the howl will start at such low Volume that the system will be pretty much unusable. You can improve the situation by placing the turntable and FIVE on foam mats. You’ll need to experiment with the density of the foam.

It is possible that the turntable makes mechanical noises as the platter rotates. This is known as “rumble” and will be constant for all records. Mostly this is a characteristic of the turntable and not much can be done to minimize its rumble.

Another problem that you may have is an interaction between the phono cartridge and the FIVE. You can investigate this by moving the tonearm across and just above the record surface. The background noise should not change during this operation. If there is a change, you’ll need to increase the separation between the turntable and FIVE or introduce a sheet of iron between the FIVE and turntable.


  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • 3 replies
  • August 13, 2024

wow, these are all such great suggestions and ideas...smart people in this Sonos community. Will give these a shot, thanks again!


Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • 11223 replies
  • August 13, 2024

When placing the stylus on a stationary LP you can gently (at least at first) tap the Sonos, then the table and finally the turntable deck to see if you get any feedback to the original tap.

A second, but more delicate test is to tap the turntable arm. That must be done very carefully to avoid over-stressing the stylus. I’d use something like a plastic straw that would create the tap wile applying little force to the arm.

 

If fiddling with the cables helped a good contact cleaner on the cable ends and turntable and Five connectors. Use carefully and in minimal amounts, do not spray directly on the turntable or five! Use a cleaning swab, foam if possible or a cotton one if it is all you have.


MoPac
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  • Headliner I
  • 1103 replies
  • August 13, 2024

 Keep the audio cable from being parallel to the AC cable.  Crossing at 90 degrees or close to that angle is OK.  Probably does not account for your the rumble, but as general SQ rule it should be done.


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