Youtube is your friend. Put new batteries into it. Turn it to “Resistance” Ω - start at the lowest setting, and check the resistance between metal on headshell, arm, arm-mount, etc to the case earth of your phonostage, or something else you KNOW to be properly earthed. Don’t stick it in a socket! You should be reading close-to zero resistance. If it goes to over-range or infinity, turn the settings to progressively higher range until you get a reading, but honestly, anything over a few ohms is probably problematic.
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I would use the ground connection on the superline first (to measure continuity from the headshell, arm etc. but not the cartridge connections).
I’d also check for continuity between the superline ground and the ground connection on the 252.
I’d check the continuity from the 252 ground connection to the earth pin on the mains plug from the supercap feeding it. I would be surprised if this wasn’t good… but who knows.
It’s most unlikely… but could it be a problem with the supply, rodent damage to a cable removing the earth from the socket for example? Possibly running a flying lead from another mains circuit (to power all hifi equipment) could discount this?
IIRC we solved the issue by making a thin copper foil “gasket” or shim to place between cartridge body and headshell. Worth trying - should cost very little but be sure the copper foil is not clear coated.
If the mating surfaces are intended to be dead flat, they possibly could be cleaned off by a quick scuff on a very fine, newly flattened, sharpening stone. Not knowing the exact circumstances, I AM NOT ACTUALLY RECOMMENDING THIS, other than as something that might be considered.
@winkyincanada
I did the multimeter thing - set it to the lowest setting on resistance “Ω” and it showed a reading of “1” (with the probes apart and not touching anything).
Placed one probe on the Superline the other on the arm and the reading didn’t change. Changed the setting upwards until it was at the maximum value and it still showed “1”.
What does that tell me?
Thanks,
Steve O.
Or gold
What happens when you touch both of the multimeter leads together, does it indicate 0 or close to it?
At “200Ω” it reads “047”, at 2KΩ"185". At “20KΩ”, “200KΩ” & “2MΩ” it reads “0”.
And all of that means diddly to me I’m afraid.
Regards,
Steve O.
It’s measuring the resistance. If the probes are held together it should be reading close to zero (e.g. a short circuit).
The fact it is reading ‘1’ when the probes aren’t touching each other suggests that’s an ‘open’ circuit (which is what would be expected).
It seems potentially troublesome that the reading from the arm to the superline is not ‘zero’- but I seem to remember that some rega arms (for example) weren’t earthed. Looking at the Roksan Artemis manual there is an earth lead mentioned:
I would be tempted to check if this has become disconnected (possibly) ?
I take it the earth wire on the arm cable is connected to the Superline earth terminal when you are checking the continuity between the Superline earth terminal and the arm tube ?
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Steve - that’s correct. With the probes apart it’ll show ‘1’ as it’s an open circuit. Touch them together and it’ll read ‘0’ - a short circuit. When testing for earth continuity you want a reading of 0 (or very close to 0). From what you say when you measured between the Superline and arm tube, you saw an open circuit which shows no connection, hence my question as to whether the arm cable earth tag is connected to the Superline Earth terminal when you are doing this.
Yes James, the earth on the arm cable is connected to the Superline earth terminal.
Ok, just checking. One other thing to bear in mind is the arm tube is probably anodised. You’ll need to find somewhere on the arm tube where you can touch the probe to where there is no anodising (a screw thread at the headshell end possibly) and you can make a contact with the bare metal underneath.
Thanks James. Would the headshell bolts be a good point of contact or do I need to remove the cartridge?
Cheers.
if you can get a good measurement (0 or thereabouts) between a headshell bolt and some other point on the arm (maybe the pillar above the VTA adjustment?) or a metal part of the deck then it would be fine to measure from the headshell bolt to the superline ground point.
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I’m going to have to remove a small piece of the anodised finish as I can’t get a reading other than “1”. Even after removing the cartridge there is no visible bare metal in the slots for the bolts. Perhaps the area the cartridge would cover is best?
I’ll get back to you later. thanks for all the help and suggestions so far.
regards,
Steve O.
Steve, is the headshell anodised? Scraping off a bit from under the headshell where it mates with the cartridge is probably a good idea and something we’ve had to do with the Aro with one or two cartridges.
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Yes it is Richard.
I’m a little worried about compromising the integrity of the finish of the arm by scraping some of the anodising off, but I guess that’s better than not being able to enjoy vinyl for fear of those loud cracks.
But I just can’t get my head round why it worked flawlessly for 9 years and now it doesn’t.
Regards,
Steve O.
I wonder if a recapping would cure this noise issue?
Could aging caps cause a noise or stability issues for Superline?
It’s just odd that if it worked flawlessly for 9 years and start developing these issues.
Have you tried a different tone arm cables? ( that’s what fixed my random popping issues )
No, OK, I don’t want you to ruin the arm if you’re worried it might do so.
A different cable is certainly worth a try. Also try the copper leaf between headshell and cartridge.