turntable 25' from amp

arghvark

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My daughter has a turntable, and due to the room configuration etc. wants it placed where it takes 25' of wire to get from it to the amplifier. It is a Music Hall mmf 1.3, so it has a phono preamp built in. I've done a quick search for grounding wires that length, didn't find anything. Is this something I can put together with some gauge of wire from the hardware store, just to ground it to the amp? Is there some other way to eliminate the awful static we currently have which certainly sounds like the static one gets without the ground?

I also did searches on grounding to something else, and gather that it is not advisable to have different grounds for the amp and the turntable. We're not very knowledgeable about all this (did you guess?), and are open to advice. (I did already find 25' phono cables...)

thanks
 
No reason why you can’t use stock electrical wiring for ground, just bare the ends and wrap around the screw down connectors on the turntable and amp.

However, it may be better to move the amp to the turntable and run longer speaker wires, is this possible?
 
She wants the speakers where she works, and the amp is built into the speakers. In hindsight, of course, that wasn't the best choice, but that's where we are now. Maybe we'll replace those with separate components. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
I'm now reading the instructions for the turntable, which definitely says to connect that spade to ground on the amp (not the preamp). It also has the line: "You can also use a line input by setting the PHONO/LINE switch at the rear of the turntable to LINE."

I'm guessing this does not eliminate the need for the ground connection. But what is a LINE connection in this context?
 
The cartridge on the end of the arm produces a very small output c.2mV this needs amplifying (to around 0.5V) before the main amp can do its job and amplify it again to a level that can drive the speakers. That first stage of amplification is done in a phono stage/preamp which physically can be in the turntable, separate box or amplifier. The other thing is that records are made with the bass boosted and treble reduced which needs correcting (RIAA filter) again this happens in the phono stage.

So, you turntable can output the “raw” cartridge ouput (probably labelled phono output) or do the first stage amplification/filter which is designated “Line out”. This is the option you should use if transmitting over 25ft (higher voltage, less chance of interference or drop off) and I suspect your speakers don’t have a phono stage built in only a line/aux input anyway. You still need to connect the turntable ground to the amp/speaker ground.

Hope this helps.
 
What a thorough explanation, seemingly targeted at exactly my level of understanding. Now I know both what to do in this specific case, and enough information to make an informed decision in another case. Thank you very much.
 
If you're going to run a ground wire from the TT to the amp, remember its a "signal-ground", not an "earth" in the same sense as the mains earth.
It's not (or shouldn't be) carrying any large voltage, so you could just run a length of thin bell-wire or telephone wire, which might be easier to manoeuvre and hide.
 
T'other way round ;)

Thanks. You are correct, sorry, was late at night, well that’s my excuse, or may be middle age senility setting in. What I wrote is what the RIAA filter does I.e. the opposite of the recording process.
 
Just to wrap up: along with other preparations to solve the problem, I purchased a set of 25' audio cables from Fospower to replace the 3 plugged-together extensions my daughter had used, and that solved the problem. I'm guessing whatever ground was needed is accommodated by the turntable/preamp internal connection, there is certainly an external grounding wire, but the AudioEngine 5+ amp/speaker setup has no place to connect it, and after connecting the 25' higher-grade audio cables, we aren't hearing the noises any more. The old Rubinstein "The Chopin I Love" album sounds GREAT.

MANY thanks to those that responded, and all those who distribute their knowledge here to help folks out.
 

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