Hi, I am a new member to this but am a hi fi fan going back to the seventies. I like many others have recently gone back to my roots and rediscovered the joys of vinyl. I have recently purchased a Rega RP1 with the upgraded cartridge, belt etc, a used Rotel RA 01 and a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speakers on stands and am using some old QED Qudos cable found in the depths of my garage. I have collected some of my old favourite records ranging from Mike Oldfield, Kraftwerk, Clash, Queen, Bee Gees and lots of my favourite genre of music, reggae plus a few repressed albums The Beatles, Floyd etc.So all in all a varied taste in music. I put all of my system together and excitedly put on my records and disappointment was all I felt. My first problem was when I touched the top of the amp I could hear the sound come through the speakers and when I have a record playing I have to have the volume up quite high to get a decent volume ( maybe I am giong deaf in my old age ) and when I do turn the volume up there is a distinct blow like sound coming from the speakers making the bass sound very distorted and also when I lift the arm up from the record the speakers crackle for a couple of seconds. The speakers are brand new by the way. Any help and advice would be very helpful on this matter and buying a new amplifier up to around £250 would not be out of the question. I know this has been long winded but thanks for reading.
new member needs help with disappointing sound
- Thread starter wingy754
- Start date
I'm not familiar with your amplifier but I'm pretty sure that you need a phono amp to go between your amplifier and record deck.These can be had at a reasonable price............
You need to eliminate one thing at a time. Does the amp have a headphone output you can try? Do you have another source you can try - anything with a headphone socket will do. Speaker cables are a possible culprit if they've been left around - try chopping the ends off and using 'fresh' wire at the connection ends.
The cable is quite a few years old, possibly 10. I did cut off ends and put new plugs on them. Sorry I do not understand what you mean when you say test using headphone socket.
bigfish786
Moderator
in the past when i had a turntable, i had similar issues which were down to poor earthing on the turntable. once i'd got a good earth the crackle/hum disappeared. you could possibly try that.
I mean if the Rotel has a headphone output plug some headphones in and see if you still get the sound problems. If you do you can narrow it down to the speaker/speaker wires.
Do you have anything else you can plug into the amp to try, such as a CD player or even the TV? Would help elmianate where the problem lies, ie with amp/speakers or turntable.
It sounds like a problem with the earthing to me. It may be that either the earthing of the electrical spur, or extension lead/multiplug that your system is on has issues (I had that problem with a pair of active speakers, took me ages to figure out what the hell was going on!). Try the system in a different room, on a diiferent electrical spur, or extension lead. Fingers crossed it'll be that simple 
wingy754 said:
Can you explain your comment "My first problem was when I touched the top of the amp I could hear the sound come through the speakers" as I think this may be the key clue.
It is extremely unlikely that there is anything adrift with your speaker cables, so I wouldn't fiddle about with headphones unless you have some to hand.
When I tap the top of the amp lightly and can hear the sound as if it is coming through the speakers.
I have just powered up the system again using a totally different plug socket in another room. Firstly when I tap the top of the amp there is a low booming sound from the speakers. I put on one of my favourite reggae vinyls ( a new back to black reissue ) and had the tone control set to off and turned the volume to just below half the max and it does not sound overly loud and the bass is so distorted, it's like a blast of vibrating air coming out ( it's hard to describe but it sounds like the speaker cannot handle the sound ) I am so disappointed with this as I was expecting so much more, perhaps too much.
I'm really sorry that this is causing so much frustration..
Something is certainly wrong with the electrical side of things. Before you try anything more drastic, and I'm sorry if this is a silly suggestion, but have you checked that the earth wires are all properly connected in the power cables?
It seems likely that the amp is the most likely culprit. Is there any way that you could borrow another one from a friend or shop to see if that's the case? Either that, or there are some audio repair services who'll test components and give you a free quote, so that would be worth checking out.
Whatever happens, don't get too disillutioned - I'm sure it'll be sorted and making more pleasant noises before too long
Something is certainly wrong with the electrical side of things. Before you try anything more drastic, and I'm sorry if this is a silly suggestion, but have you checked that the earth wires are all properly connected in the power cables?
It seems likely that the amp is the most likely culprit. Is there any way that you could borrow another one from a friend or shop to see if that's the case? Either that, or there are some audio repair services who'll test components and give you a free quote, so that would be worth checking out.
Whatever happens, don't get too disillutioned - I'm sure it'll be sorted and making more pleasant noises before too long
Sounds like a system setup to me. Ideally you should get your dealer round to sort it out.
For the moment, how is the system physically set up, what are the supports for the player and amplifier, where are your speakers placed and what sort of stands do the speakers have?
For the moment, how is the system physically set up, what are the supports for the player and amplifier, where are your speakers placed and what sort of stands do the speakers have?
davedotco said:
Hmmm.. Hadn't thought of the fact that vibrations from the speakers might be feeding back through the turntable, or something similar. Good call.
gramps23 said:
Obvious call.
In all the recent hype surrounding vinyl reproduction people have forgatten two essential facts.
1) If you are serious about getting good sound from vinyl, rather than just 'being cool', then good record players are not cheap.
2) System set up has to be done right, if you are not prepared to do that then don't waste your money.
TrevC
Well-known member
I take it that any transit screws have been removed from the turntable. If not, that's the feedback problem, if they have or there aren't any the turntable needs to be mounted on a firm shelf on a wall, or something similar.
TrevC said:
The RP1 is a 'solid' design, no transit screws.
A wall shelf is an excellent idea and an essential part of the "system setup" I mention above. You need to be reasonably careful with the shelf though, anything that is 'built in' to the structure of the bulding will not be effective, similarly a heavy shelf rigidly fixed to a solid wall will not work either.
Rega's own support is ideal, though a pair of wall brackets with the smallist possible (to fit the player) shelf will work. Do not fix the shelf to the brackets in any way, it just rests on them.
The_Lhc
Well-known member
gramps23 said:
How would that be related to hearing sounds from the speakers when you tap the *amp*?
The_Lhc said:
If, for instance, the amp was supported on the same piece of furniture as the turntable.
The_Lhc said:
If the amplifier is on the same surface (shelf, piece of furniture etc) as the player then it is quite possible, simple mechanical feedback.
It is possible that the amplifier has a fault that has caused it to become microphonic, but for a solid state device, this is unusual.
Anyway it is easily checked, if it is on the same surface as the player it is mechanical feedback, prove it by lifting the amplifier in one hand and repeating the 'tap' test. If the noise can still be heard through the speakers then the amp is faulty. As I said, unlikely.
So, could be the amp, but I would still say this is a setup issue though, cheap 'solid' turntable, bass heavy music (reggae) and speakers not exactly reknowned for control at the bass end.
Thanks for all your comments everyone, the deck is on the same piece of furniture as the amp and the speakers are on metal three legged stands wth spikes at the bottom. I will try a few of the ideas mentioned by you guys. THANKS AGAIN
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