I have done some more work on this deck today.
I have checked the entire earthing circuit and have cleaned all screws and washers of tarnishing. I have meticulously checked that the motor is not touching the casing or base plate and it is not.
I have ensure the base plate has an path to earth. The neoprene belt still seems to resonate. I have cleaned the platter edge, top, belt groove, motor pulley. The neoprene belt materiel feel kind of tacky - like a sticky feel to it - not that it sticks to you but it feel tacky. I have a feeling that it unsticks as it comes out of the groove and behaves like a plucked guitar string.
I am now also thinking it could be the knackered stylus in some way. And it really is proper knackered. Something that is interesting is that if i press lightly on the tonearm the background hum goes. This is even if I touch the non conductive areas of it like the headshell which seems like some kind of plastic. If I simply touch the side of these areas ie place no pressure on the stylus the background hum remains - so surely this is not an eathing issue as the noise would go whether touched on the side of the metal bits or the top.
The stylus was also dirty so have attempted to clean it following careful instructions found on the web and YouTube and the actual stylus simply fell apart so the upshot now is that if I want to even try to get this going I need to buye either a replacement stylus for the Shure VN35HE or an enture new cartridge.
I am born from the digital age so this is all quite a new audio and technical adventure so thanks guys for your help. In terms of replacement cartridges I have considered three options:
1. go with the current Shure (better the devil known) and replace the current with the Shure M97XE
2. The Ortofon Bronze or Black
3. The Goldring 1042
The thing is I was intent on purchasing a record player in any event. Budget of no more that £1k to £1.2k. So would transfer the more expensive ones listed here over if this Connoisseur project can't go anywhere.
In terms of replacing the cartridge how easy is this? It appears to be 4 pull out connectors with coloured wires. The headshell has a number of screws dotted about all over it. Are cartridges a standard fitment?
My System: NAD C340, NAD PP4 Phono Stage, Sony CDP 101, Linn Majik 109 Speakers, Chord Chameleon Connectors, Chord Rumour Speaker Cable