2. analog
  3. 138744-114449

Colibri or Hummingbird?

Hi all,

I'm experiencing a rather annoying 'hum' with my Colibri XPW cartridge. It sits in a Reed 3P tonearm on a Micro RX-1500 and goes into a Boulder 1008 Phono amp (the Reed tonearm cable has RCA plugs, so I'm obliged to use the Boulder's RCA-XLR adapters). The hum is typical to the Colibri/Reed combo. The two other tonearms I use on the RX-1500 (one of which also goes straight into the Boulder) are completely silent, no matter what cartridges are used.

The hum resides in the background while the arm is in stationery position, but it turns into a fierce 'humming' the moment I touch it, again retreating to the background when I release the arm. Strange enough this problem comes and goes and had almost completely disappeared for a while. But for some reason it has returned again, without having made any changes in the system.

It's a complete mystery to me, so I hope some of you might be able offer some explanation. And if possible a way to get rid of it.....


edgewear
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
9,123 posts
 
Dear @edgewear: The best is what you said: to have reterminated the cable with XLR connectors. Those adapters are really degrading the quality performance level of that lovely Colibri or any other cartridge.

R.
edgewear OP
119 posts
 
@rauliruegas,
I agree that these adapters should be avoided, but Boulder has only XLR inputs and I already owned the Reed arm before changing to these amps. I did inquire about the possibility of re-terminating the Reed cable to XLR connectors. The Reed distributor offered to do this for €750, which I found ludicrous and 'respectfully' declined. Should I reconsider this offer or should I try finding someone else with the required skills who might do this for a more reasonable sum?
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
9,123 posts
 
Dear @edgewear: That kind of job is extremely easy to do, maybe the more expensive and not really expensive could be the pair of Neutrik XLR connectors. That distributor is a "thieve " because for that price we can buy a new IC phono cable with XLR.

Try to find out a technician to fix that problem.

R.
lewm
6,770 posts
 
€750 to replace the RCA plugs on your Reed  tonearm with XLR plugs is criminally ridiculous. If we were anywhere near to each other geographically, I would do it for you in 20 minutes. But what you need to know is how the Reed is wired. I am guessing that it is wired for balanced connection in the first place. Which is to say that there are two wires of equal caliber and type traveling inside the shield. In that case for an XLR connector the wire that goes to the hot pin on the RCA goes to pin 2 on the XLR. The wire that goes to the ground pin on the RCA goes to pin 3 of the XLR. The shield is connected only to pin 1. It is quite probable that your hum problem has to do with the XLR to RCA adapter that is inside your Boulder phono, as you have guessed. I don’t know where you live, but don’t you know anyone else with the skill to make the very simple conversion from RCA to XLR? For male XLR plugs I would use Neutrix silver or Xhadow silver.
edgewear OP
119 posts
 
Thanks again for all your help. I don't feel confident to do the re-terminating of the tonearm cable myself. I'm fairly new to this game of cart rolling and using several tonearms. While I've managed to become quite handy in cartridge installation and alignment, I've never touched a soldering iron, believe it or not. So I will need to find someone in my part of the world to help me with this. And perhaps even better, teach me how to do it myself the next time.

BTW: the XLR to RCA adapter is not inside the Phono amp, but an external short piece of wire with female RCA's on the tonearm cable side and male XLR's on the amp input side. So re-terminating the Reed tonearm cable would take this out of the equation completely, which might prove to be sonically beneficial. But of course getting rid of the hum is my main priority.


More to discover