Pro-ject Genie Mk1 Making Nasty Static Noises

[DSJR]

IMO, the cartridge returns should not be connected to the chassis earths, since this can cause hum (at very low level). There should be an earth (black?) wire in the arm pipe possibly which connects the pipe etc to the lower bearings via the tag under the arm. I no longer have the Debut II with which to compare I'm afraid..

[Rothchild]

Thanks David,

It's the black arm connection I appear to be missing, all that I can see going in to and coming out of the arm is the red, white, blue and green cartridge connections, the main earth is just the green wire that's bolted in to the bottom of the arm.

It would be interesting to hear from any other Genie users to see how their arms are setup and see if I am indeed missing this extra cable to bond the top of the arm to earth.

[hifi_dave]

The bearing green wire is to earth the bearing and hopefully, reduce static.

Usually, there is a a separate wire in with the two phono connections from the arm to earth the metal work of the arm. Not all arms have this - Rega for instance, so it isn't necessarily missing.

You could try and run a piece of wire to the amp 'earth' and touch it to the arm tube or bearing housing to hear if this makes any difference. If it reduces the noise, it would appear that the arm needs an earth. If it doesn't improve things, it could well be damaged/worn inner wiring.

[hifi_dave]

I have just noted that in one post you say the green wire is attached to the bearing and in another, you say it's on the bottom of the arm..

[DSJR]

I can't remember Dave, but the Debut II my cousins gave me (and then had back) had a green wire running in a channel from the bearing housing to the under tonearm main earth tab (If you know what I mean). The Debut arm was earthed to this tab and the external earth wire was also soldered to this point IIRC.

[Rothchild]

It's as DSJR describes it, but I only have the cable that attaches to the tab on the underside of the whole assembly (on the bottom, there is a bearing in there) and is soldered to the output box (earth)

There is no additional lead from the top part of the arm, just the 4 leads from the cart.

[hifi_dave]

In that case, if there is no 'earth' connection point under the arm, you can try to run a wire from the bearing 'earth' and connect this to an 'earth' point on the amp. If that is done and the noises are still there, I strongly suspect you have faulty internal wiring.

Where are you in East Anglia ?

[Rothchild]

Thanks Dave,

I'm going to try and work out how to cludge an additional earth from the top section of the arm to the amp earth and see what that does. If it works then I've got an extra problem of trying to work out how to make it a permenant fixture!

I'm in Cambridge.

[hifi_dave]

You just need a convenient screw to touch it on to.

You can always bring it over here and I can take a look.

[hifi_dave]

So, what happened ?

It would be nice to know..