Newbie hobbyist with trouble.

[Azulan]

Hello Everyone!

I bought my first turntable a couple years ago because i already collected vinyl as art and wanted to listen to them later. now i'm getting more serious with good sound quality and bought myself a Sansui qrx-3000 reciever. it looks absolutely stunning and sounds a lot better than my old one. I also want to note that i absolutely love everything vintage and would like my entire sound system to be vintage as well.
Still there are some concerns i've noticed with my setup. And with all the factors to consider and information out there it is really overwhelming since i have little to no knowledge about technology and electricity.

My current setup is:
American Audio TTD-2400USB (next to replace)
Sansui QRX-3000 Reciever
OR (Olavi Räsänen) OR-L110 Speakers
No preamp

My turntable is connected to phono input
TV and Chromecast connected from TV's Headphone AUX to Recievers AUX


First issue i want to discuss is the hissing. I understand a small amount of hissing is normal. but if music isn't playing i can hear it from 3 meters away. and slightly if slow or calm music is playing and this bothers me a lot. To balance the volume between tv and reciever i raised recievers volume just enough so that it matches with tv's normal listening volume and then just raise and lower with tv control. so recievers volume is on something like 20% and tv at 17/100 (that's the volume i used before i had an amp). The hissing is even louder when using headphones.
Edit: I unplugged everything except speaker cables and power cable. the hissing is still there.

second issue is when connected to phono using my turntable there's a slight humm. this is though not really annoying to me because it is very low and isn't noticable when actually playing music but could be fixed. also interested in what could cause it.

third thing i wonder is that normally the TTD-2400 turntable comes with a grounding screw beside the rca inputs but mine doesnt have that. and there doesnt seem to be any place to attach a grounding wire on my turntable. someone said that this turntable doesn't need grounding.

last thing i wonder is...Do i need a preamp? from what i understand my recievers phono input should have it's own pre amp but do i need one for tv as well? i tried to read what a preamp even is but it just goes over my head. can someone explain it to me as if i was a 5 years old?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post and i hope someone could help me out here as i feel completely lost in this hi-fi world,

Azulan

 

[Al ears]

Welcome to the forum.

I am no expert in vintage kit and have not heard of half of yours but a couple of points to note.
If you can hear hissing with everything disconnect you have a problem with the receiver.
The fact you can hear it louder through headphones reinforces this.
Turntables do need grounding, hence the hum. Perhaps an external phono preamp might help here.
Unusual because every image I can find shows a ground point on the rear of deck.
If your output from TV goes to aux in you should not need any volume on the TV.......
Scratch that, I see you connect to headphone socket on TV which is not ideal.
Is there no other way of getting audio out on your TV?

I would suggest not much point in spending out on a new turntable until you get the receiver problem sorted.

 

[Azulan]

Welcome to the forum.

I am no expert in vintage kit and have not heard of half of yours but a couple of points to note.
If you can hear hissing with everything disconnect you have a problem with the receiver.
Turntables go need grounding. Perhaps an external phono preamp might help here.
If your output from TV goes to aux in you should not need any volume on the TV.......
Scratch that, I see you connect to headphone socket on TV which is not ideal.
Is there no other way of getting audio out on your TV?

after posting i figured i should try connecting only power cord and speakers. there was same hissing on every channel which increased when turning up volume. then i also tried having only headphones directly connected to reciever. same type of hissing but even more noticable. so yes i guess it's the reciever causing the hissing. can that be fixed or do i just have to live with it?
turns out only audio out on my tv is the aux port

 

[nopiano]

Hello and welcome!

Sansui was a great brand, though sadly now gone. But your receiver is very old, and any number of components might be adrift or failing, so hiss isn’t a great surprise. It’s impossible to diagnose hiss over the internet, but maybe you have a friend or dealer or repair shop you can try it with to compare? Hiss shouldn’t be audible at seating position though speakers, with the volume set comfortably loud with no record playing. It might be audible through headphones, but not above your music.

The Phono input on your Sansui is the ‘preamp’ for the cartridge* on your turntable. You don’t need another one, unless you’re seeking a different/better sound, or trying to trace a fault.

* the cartridge only produces a few millivolts, but a CD player outputs up to 2 volts. That’s why you need the Phono input.

tl:dr. You need to check out the receiver for faults/ageing, and you don’t need a phono preamp because it’s built in.

 

[nopiano]

Re hum. Al is correct, there is a ground terminal on your turntable. Next to the red and white sockets in the picture. It doesn't need ‘Hifi wire’ just any thin cable, from bell wire to a single piece of speaker wire. Just one length. Strip both ends and twist them to avoid stray strands. Fasten one end under the thumbscrew on the turntable. Fasten the other end to the ground/earth on the receiver. It’s probably near the phono input. That should reduce or eliminate the hum.

 

[Azulan]

Re hum. Al is correct, there is a ground terminal on your turntable. Next to the red and white sockets in the picture. It doesn't need ‘Hifi wire’ just any thin cable, from bell wire to a single piece of speaker wire. Just one length. Strip both ends and twist them to avoid stray strands. Fasten one end under the thumbscrew on the turntable. Fasten the other end to the ground/earth on the receiver. It’s probably near the phono input. That should reduce or eliminate the hum.

View attachment 5246

 

[Azulan]

this is what the back of mine looks like ttd-2400usb. i only found a picture of one other player without this ground screw and it was a russian website . If you wonder about the counterweight being backwards. the guy i bought the table from said that the cartridge was so light that hehad to put the counterweight backwards. not sure if that's correct or not but the balance seems fine imo. i balanced it myself recently with the backwards thing in mind

 

[Al ears]

Hello and welcome!

Sansui was a great brand, though sadly now gone. But your receiver is very old, and any number of components might be adrift or failing, so hiss isn’t a great surprise. It’s impossible to diagnose hiss over the internet, but maybe you have a friend or dealer or repair shop you can try it with to compare? Hiss shouldn’t be audible at seating position though speakers, with the volume set comfortably loud with no record playing. It might be audible through headphones, but not above your music.

The Phono input on your Sansui is the ‘preamp’ for the cartridge* on your turntable. You don’t need another one, unless you’re seeking a different/better sound, or trying to trace a fault.

* the cartridge only produces a few millivolts, but a CD player outputs up to 2 volts. That’s why you need the Phono input.

tl:dr. You need to check out the receiver for faults/ageing, and you don’t need a phono preamp because it’s built in.

Agreed about the phono input. Only suggested an external one for if earthing of the turntable became an issue.
However, with the current state of the receiver itself, this is a tad irrelevant.

 

[Al ears]

this is what the back of mine looks like ttd-2400usb. i only found a picture of one other player without this ground screw and it was a russian website . If you wonder about the counterweight being backwards. the guy i bought the table from said that the cartridge was so light that hehad to put the counterweight backwards. not sure if that's correct or not but the balance seems fine imo. i balanced it myself recently with the backwards thing in mind

Odd, perhaps they ground this deck using a different method.
Interesting to note that the turntable itself has an inbuilt phono preamp so make sure that Phono / Line switch is in the correct position before connecting it to the Phono inputs on back of receiver.

 

[Azulan]

Odd, perhaps they ground this deck using a different method.
Interesting to note that the turntable itself has an inbuilt phono preamp so make sure that Phono / Line switch is in the correct position before connecting it to the Phono inputs on back of receiver.

ohh...and i'm guessing the right position is phono? what would happen if i put it on Line? I feel stupid asking these questions but i honestly have no idea what im doing

 

[Al ears]

ohh...and i'm guessing the right position is phono? what would happen if i put it on Line? I feel stupid asking these questions but i honestly have no idea what im doing

Line would give you an amplified signal, which you don't want as it's already amplified when you connect it to your receivers phono in sockets.
You do not want to amplify it twice.....
Always best to read the manual.

 

[Gray]

ohh...and i'm guessing the right position is phono? what would happen if i put it on Line? I feel stupid asking these questions but i honestly have no idea what im doing

No need to worry about asking questions 👍
That switch determines what comes out of the 2 sockets.

When switched to 'phono' the signal comes direct from your cartridge.


When switched to 'line' the (higher level) signal comes from the output of the turntable's built-in preamplifier - you could connect this to an aux line input on your Samsung - and compare the sound with what you currently get using the the phono input
(Unlikely, but you might lose the hum).

(EDIT:
Just seen that Al posted an explanation before I finished typing this).

Not much you can do about that hissing....other than tell the repairer whether it's there on one or both channels (very likely both).

Make sure you get a repair estimate before any work is done.
If the estimate is not free, ask if that charge will be deducted from the eventual repair cost.

 

[Azulan]

Thanks everyone!

I'm going to look for a place that specialises in these kinds of things and ask for a check on the reciever.

can i somehow close this thread or is it just meant to remain open forever?

 

[nopiano]

this is what the back of mine looks like ttd-2400usb. i only found a picture of one other player without this ground screw and it was a russian website . If you wonder about the counterweight being backwards. the guy i bought the table from said that the cartridge was so light that hehad to put the counterweight backwards. not sure if that's correct or not but the balance seems fine imo. i balanced it myself recently with the backwards thing in mind

How curious. Yours has a captive mains lead, whereas the one I looked up on a reputable seller’s website looks like it has a power supply in the plug.

 

[nopiano]

Thanks everyone!

I'm going to look for a place that specialises in these kinds of things and ask for a check on the reciever.

can i somehow close this thread or is it just meant to remain open forever?

Don’t worry about that. Someone else might find it of interest.

Before you go, what position was your switch in, the one on the back? I can’t make it out on your picture.

 

[Gray]

I'm going to look for a place that specialises in these kinds of things and ask for a check on the reciever.

Good luck.
But I do fear that the hiss problem might be expensive......possibly enough to make a brand new amp seem like a good option.

A new one would have a silent background - but nothing like the vintage appearance of your Sansui 😐

 

[Azulan]

Don’t worry about that. Someone else might find it of interest.

Before you go, what position was your switch in, the one on the back? I can’t make it out on your picture.

it was on phono

 

[Azulan]

Good luck.
But I do fear that the hiss problem might be expensive......possibly enough to make a brand new amp seem like a good option.

A new one would have a silent background - but nothing like the vintage appearance of your Sansui 😐

yeah if that's the case i'll just be happy with what i got. the sound quality is still way better than what i had before. i can get used to the hiss. but the looks of my sansui when it's turned on is the most beautiful piece of art i have.

 

[Azulan]

How curious. Yours has a captive mains lead, whereas the one I looked up on a reputable seller’s website looks like it has a power supply in the plug.

yeah it's strange to me as well. like i said i've only seen a picture of one other player that had the same back as mine, it was on a russian website and i cant find the picture again

 

[Azulan]

i might have fixed the hissing issue. the front rear balance was a tiny bit on the rear side even though i only have front speakers. i turned it to max for front speakers and now the hissing is almost completely gone.
not sure if this is a lazy workaround to the problem but it seems to work.
The hissing from headphone jack is still bad though. could it be because my ATH-M50X headphones doesnt originally have a big headphone jack and i have to use a cheap converter.?

 

[Al ears]

i might have fixed the hissing issue. the front rear balance was a tiny bit on the rear side even though i only have front speakers. i turned it to max for front speakers and now the hissing is almost completely gone.
not sure if this is a lazy workaround to the problem but it seems to work.
The hissing from headphone jack is still bad though. could it be because my ATH-M50X headphones doesnt originally have a big headphone jack and i have to use a cheap converter.?

No, even a cheap convertor should not introduce hissing.

 

[Gray]

i might have fixed the hissing issue. the front rear balance was a tiny bit on the rear side even though i only have front speakers. i turned it to max for front speakers and now the hissing is almost completely gone.
not sure if this is a lazy workaround to the problem but it seems to work.
The hissing from headphone jack is still bad though. could it be because my ATH-M50X headphones doesnt originally have a big headphone jack and i have to use a cheap converter.?

....and it's not lazy - makes sense to maximise the balance toward the only speakers you have connected 👍