Sme tonearm repair
I think it is obvious that what the dealer's technician did was to cut the RCA phono plugs off one end of a pair of "impressive" somewhat thick and stiff interconnects and add a ground cable that looks like one side of generic Radio Shack speaker wire. I briefly examined the inside but I did not at that time remove the "shielding can" covering the connection area at the base of the SME arm's tower. I believe the problem was caused several years ago when a dealer's technician replaced the output cable (and I do not know if it was a Thorens factory output cable) with some "audiophile" cables (however, in my opinion, cables of dubious parentage) hard-wired to the SME tone arm. So I see no need to check the headshell wires or the internal wires in the tonearm. FYI, both channels play music perfectly and the hum and radio noise is as far as I can tell equal in both channels. We have ruled out a phono-stage problem by swapping in a loaner, and the problem persisted. What does make a difference I think is that the TT is equipped with a same-vintage SME tonearm with a removable headshell.Īs my friend's stereo has undergone renovation from a rather tattered state, the hum and radio problem has become more apparent he does not want to stop listening to records, and he does not want to buy a new turntable. II, but I think as far as this problem goes, that probably does not make a difference. I apologize in advance for the lengthy description I provided detail in hopes of ultimately saving time thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any suggestions. I am trying to help a friend troubleshoot a hum and radio station reception problem on his vintage (circa 1976) Thorens TD-125.