Quick, possibly stupid, question. I’ve just replaced my 30 year old Project 1/project phono box with a Project Debut Carbon/IfI Zen combo. Setting it up I connected the ground cable on the deck to the ifi Zen but as soon as I turned things on it had a deep buzz from the speakers. Disconnecting from the phono stage reduced the hum (although there’s still a very slight hum). My question is basically WTF…should the ground not be connected to the phono stage or do I need a 2nd one from the Zen to the rest of the system (Uniti Star). Any ideas?
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Not a stupid question at all. Because it is not always clear how different components are earthed and to where, there is indeed some trial and error in any system of mixed brands to determine where, or even if, an earthing tail from the turntable should be used.
The Star is absolutely earthed so a second earth to the Ifi may cause a loop. Does the Star have a signal ground screw on the back? If so, I suggest bypassing the Ifi and connecting the ground tail directly from the turntable to the Star and see what result you get.
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You have an earth or ground loop. Suggest you follow @feeling_zen 's advice then report back.
‘Should’ be an easy fix. Hopefully.
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You are keeping us in suspense!
Sorry! Been really busy, I’m going to try the fix tomorrow
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Right, finally sorted it. The Uniti Star doesn’t have a ground post as such, it has a grounding switch that is either “Floating” or “Default”. When I connected the ground wire from the turntable to the iFi Zen phono stage with the grounding switch at “default” I got the grounding loop buzz, switching to “Floating” and voila……the buzz disappears! Result!!
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Excellent. FWIW that switch just changes the signal ground for the whole system to be done via something else. In this case, the Ifi. Default sets it internally to the chassis so you would indeed have two competing signal grounds in that case.
Glad it’s working now.
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First read of the day and brilliant to see an issue solved with such ease and an explanation as to why.
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