Cyrus Phono Signature sounds awful

[walkch]

Hi,

I’m new to the board and looking for some help with my phono stage.

I just took delivery of a Cyrus Phono Signature, hooked everything up and even at the quietest volume have an awful thumping / scratching sounds which makes it completely impossible to listen (ie not just sub-optimal but instead that is the predominant sound). All sounds fine with a Rega Fono MM2 phono stage and my streamer sounds fine too.

System details are below. Any advice on how to fix this would be very much appreciated. The manual doesnt seem to be much help beyond suggesting I move the ground lift switch (which unfortunately didn’t help). I have the phono stage set to an MM cartridge but there aren’t any adjustments available beyond that.

Cyrus 82 DAC integrated amplifier (with Russ Andrews YellO power cable)
Cyrus Phono Signature (with out of the box power cable)
Rega P8 with Rega Exact MM cartridge (standard Rega Neo TT PSU)
Bluesound Node 2i (with Russ Andrews YellO power cable)
Monitor Audio GX50 speakers
Chord C-Line RCA Interconnects for the turntable (EDIT: for the phono stage to the amp, turntable has its own RCA interconnects built in)
Van Den Hul Optocoupler MKII Toslink optical cable for the streamer
Atlas Equator 2.0 speaker cable
Tacima CS947 extension lead

Thanks in advance

 

[Gray]

As the Fono MM2 is OK, it's certainly pointing to a faulty unit.
Is the issue still present with the Phono Signature powered up, but with your TT totally disconnected from its input?

 

[walkch]

Hi,

There’s a sort of hiss that gets louder as I turn the volume up but only appears way above the level I would normally play music and is nothing like the sound I get when playing a record through the new phono stage.

 

[Gray]

Hi,

There’s a sort of hiss that gets louder as I turn the volume up but only appears way above the level I would normally play music and is nothing like the sound I get when playing a record through the new phono stage.

That's exactly what I would expect.

Now just try using a standard interconnection in place of the Chord C-Line between TT and Phono Sig input......and see what you get.

 

[walkch]

Ah sorry, I should probably have been clearer about the connections. The Chord C-Line is between the phono stage and integrated amp and the turntable has its own RCA leads built in (which do not seem to be removable/replaceable).

The most recent test was disconnecting the inbuilt TT RCAs from the phono stage but leaving the C-Line between phono and amp.

 

[Gray]

The most recent test was disconnecting the inbuilt TT RCAs from the phono stage but leaving the C-Line between phono and amp.

OK I understand.
If you've got a standard interconnect cable handy, just try it on the output of the Phono Sig instead of the C-Line, whilst playing music.
It's a long shot, but give it a try before any next move.

 

[Al ears]

When you say just taken delivery of is the Cyrus phono new?
What do you mean 'there aren't any adjustments available beyond that'? You should have settings for Gain and Impedence available surely? Not that I think that is your problem....
If possible can you plug the turntable into a mains socket as opposed to that Tacima?

 

[walkch]

Thanks all,

Yes the phono stage is new. There are buttons to adjust the gain and impedance but according to the manual they are only for MC cartridges.

Unfortunately changing the cables and plugging in directly didn’t seem to address the issue.

 

[Gray]

No, the signal cable swap was a real (and illogical) long shot.
(Suggested because there was a member that swapped a fancy for an 'inferior' input lead and cured hum. The input side is always going to be more critical - and we know your fixed lead is OK).

I saw from the manual that the Phono Sig can output up to 9 volts, which is extremely high, something that would certainly be a problem for some amps - but as you're putting into a Cyrus line input, there will (should) be no overload issue. You've also tried the ground lift switch in both positions.

All you can really do now is drop that Rega Fono back in place of the Cyrus to confirm that, with all else being equal, it works perfectly.
Then you have to (surprisingly) conclude that the Phono Sig is faulty.
Probably not going to be convenient for you, but ideally you could take it back and let the retailer confirm the fault (while you wait).

 

[Gray]

You should have settings for Gain and Impedence available surely?

I was surprised to learn that such an elevated model has no MM parameter adjustments. I'd have bet that it would have.
(It's got plenty for MC though).

 

[Clarkey_71]

Apologies if this is completely unuseful, but how are you connecting the signature to the 82?
Does the 82 have a phono stage?
If so, are you bypassing that and connecting in to a line stage i.e. aux etc.

 

[Gray]

Apologies if this is completely unuseful, but how are you connecting the signature to the 82?
Does the 82 have a phono stage?
If so, are you bypassing that and connecting in to a line stage i.e. aux etc.

Always our first thought too Paul, since several newbies have made the mistake. But no, John here knows what he's doing. he's got 6 analogue line inputs, none of them phono.

 

[Al ears]

I was surprised to learn that such an elevated model has no MM parameter adjustments. I'd have bet that it would have.
(It's got plenty for MC though).

Odd.
I wonder if he is using the line output or the MC-Bus output

 

[NHL99]

The device has four separate ground terminals, one for each switchable input.

From the manual: 'Connect the ground wire from the turntable'
'The chassis of the Phono Signature is connected to mains ground. The Ground Lift switch d enables the circuit of the Phono Signature to be linked to mains ground or isolated. The setting of this will be system dependent. The factory setting for the switch is to the ‘LIFT’ position. If any hum or buzz noises are apparent when playing a turntable, setting the switch to the ‘GND’ (grounded) position may cure the problem.'

 

[Gray]

The device has four separate ground terminals, one for each switchable input.

From the manual: 'Connect the ground wire from the turntable'
'The chassis of the Phono Signature is connected to mains ground. The Ground Lift switch d enables the circuit of the Phono Signature to be linked to mains ground or isolated. The setting of this will be system dependent. The factory setting for the switch is to the ‘LIFT’ position. If any hum or buzz noises are apparent when playing a turntable, setting the switch to the ‘GND’ (grounded) position may cure the problem.'

In the original post, he said he tried the ground lift switch.

 

[NHL99]

In the original post, he said he tried the ground lift switch.

The manual continues: 'If hum or noise problems persist when playing a turntable and the switch setting does not cure the problem, ... check the ground connection arrangements on your turntable and other system components.'

 

[Gray]

The manual continues: 'If hum or noise problems persist when playing a turntable and the switch setting does not cure the problem, ... check the ground connection arrangements on your turntable and other system components.'

....would be nice if he could do that.
But Rega turntables are famous for their lack of (separate) grounding arrangements.

 

[walkch]

Thanks everyone - I think I’be managed to resolve the issue. Strangely, the MM setting seems to have defaulted to very high gain for the preset MM settings (I.e. suitable for a higher end MC cart). I changed to MC, set to the lowest gain and 47ohm impedance and then changed back to MM which retained these. This matches a picture I found in the Cyrus website which showed use with a MM cart.

Whilst it seems to be working now I do wonder if that is (a) symptomatic of any other issues as I did have some scrambling of the display whilst trying the settings or (b) whether having played a high output cart through such a high gain will have damaged anything in the phono stage or the rest of my system.

Also - I’d like to say thank you to all those who’ve helped look into this and especially things like reading through the manuals/ checking specifications etc! Really kind of you all.

 

[nopiano]

As you appear to have connected it in substitution for your old Rega there must be something wrong with it. The noises you describe don’t strike me as typical cabling/hum issues, and surely the best output cannot be so wildly out of kilter?
Looks like something isn’t right. Hope you can get a replacement, pronto.

PS. Sorry, just saw you seem to have fixed it. I cant understand how it took on MC settings, but so be it. You can’t damage the Cyrus that way, and as long as you didn’t blast the noise through your speakers you should be fine.