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fixing hum on Rega Rp6

Hi all-
LIke some other Rega owners, I experience a moderate hum that seems to have something to do with lack of grounding from the power supply.  I went ahead and ordered an upgraded power supply from Swagman Labs, which should take care of the hum and have other sonic benefits.
http://www.swagmanlab.com/Product_PSU?product_id=664

It will be a few weeks before that arrives.  In the immediate, I found this fix for running a ground wire from the existing Rega PSU TT.
http://www.audioappraisal.com/tip-ground-your-rega-ttpsu-to-reduce-hum/
I haven't done this yet, but my dad (an engineer!) is very excited to try this experiment over Christmas.  So my question is once I have the Swagman unit do I need to unhook this grounding wire, or is it likely to add value even with the Swagman?
Finally, will an upgraded power cord with the Swagman also be a worthwhile investment?
Thanks and happy holidays!
Margot
mcanaday
jea48
2,944 posts
 
roberjerman
185 posts                                                                     12-19-2017 10:31am

Run a wire from the turntable ground to the preamp ground to eliminate hum! ALL phono systems require THIS! Do this first before wasting money on another plug-in power supply! I am sure that what Rega provides is fine - they have been in business for decades! Also, don’t waste money on power cords! Contrary to marketing hype they offer ZERO benefit! Wire is the BIGGEST B.S. factor in Audio!
There isn’t any ground wire or ground lug for a ground wire on the Rega TT.

Rega grounds the arm tube internally by connecting one of the channel signal shields to it. (I believe the left channel) The ground connection to the phono preamp is made through the signal ground wire/shield of the interconnect.

.
sbrownnw
652 posts
 
My RP6 had some hum at times. I tried running a ground from the TTPSU to the phono preamp. Later diagnosis lead to a bad tonearm cable that was replaced under warranty. Now it is quiet to 50% volume (which is very loud on my system) with very little hum / hiss using a low .3v MV cartridge. If you unplug the TTPSU from the table, do you still get hum? If so, giggle the loop of the tone arm cable just after it comes out of the arm. 
mcanaday OP
148 posts
 
Thanks very much!  I hadn't thought of the tonearm.  I will experiment with this and see.

The problem is intermittent, but I haven only noticed it when the TTPSU is plugged in...

Margot
jea48
2,944 posts
 
Does the hum change when you touch the tone arm? Get louder?
mcanaday OP
148 posts
 
No change when I touch the tone arm.  I notice it when I turn on the PSU TT...

Thanks!
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