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Posted by rom661 on
07-04-2022
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Hi. First time posting. I had long admired an older friend's RX-5000. He left it to me when he passed last year (RIP, Bill) and I recently got possession and did a lot of cleanup on a table that had been sitting for a couple of decades. He has owned it for at least 30 years, I think since it was new. It has a Grado Signature Laboratory Standard tonearm and I have a Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua cartridge mounted. Bearing seems OK both in terms of moving freely and not discernible noise with a stethoscope.
The issue is static. When the platter is spinning, with the tonearm down or not, within a short time it builds up tremendous static. The discharge when you touch the tonearm lift or chassis jolts you. I suspect it is causing some low level noise as well, even though the table is incredibly quiet otherwise. It is grounded via the tonearm cable to my phono stage. I'm going back and forth between a Soundeck PM mat and an acrylic one. I like things about both. Also have a high dollar composite, like felt and resin, felt off of a Rega Planar 10 (kills the sound) and a generic cork mat. None affect the issue. It is humid now and the humidity in the room is not low. Nothing else in the system has the problem and the Rega is fine when I move it back. I'm flummoxed. Could it be static generated from the bearing? I'm an old timer but out of my element here. Thanks.
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Posted by Paul S on
07-05-2022
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Discussed many times on this site is the "dedicated ground" (aka "bleeder"), which generally includes a driven copper ground rod and a wire to it from the TT, arm, SUT, and/or phono stage. The idea is to get the resistance as low as possible, so the static "wants" to drain off. It is possible that something in (or on) your TT creates the static, likely from a reciprocating mass that acts as a generator, but it might be any of several causes. Of course, everything in the TT should be systemically "star grounded" to begin with, nothing orphaned. Some environments are more conducive (sorry...) to static than others, and it can take some good sleuthing to resolve this problem. You can always try a Milty Zero-Stat, or newer variant. Rubber-ish mats might cause (or exacerbate) such a problem; a cork mat "shouldn't".
Good Luck!
Best regards.
Paul S
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