Electrical "pop" when switching on my turntable. Could it be my Stageline?
Posted by: Graeme MacArthur on 31 May 2018
Last week I bought a Linn Sondek and a Naim Stageline K. When I switch on the motor rocker switch there is a loud "pop" through the loudspeakers. I took the deck back to the dealer who was unable to reproduce the "pop" unless he arced the switch. He was using a Cyrus Signature phono stage.
I took the deck back home and plugged it into the mains, leaving it unplugged from the Stageline. When I switched the motor on there was no "pop". When I plugged it into the Stageline the "pop" was well and truly back.
I tried running an extension from another part of the house for the Sondek mains supply. This helped a little, but it's still there. My dealer loaned me an Isotek Sirius power bar to try, but that made no difference. I've been told that Stagelines can be very sensitive to electrical pulses. I'm going to borrow the Cyrus phono stage and swap that in.
I wondered if anyone has had a similar experience with a Stageline. It's being fed by a Linn Krystal cartridge.
I have an LP12 with a Stageline K and don't get a pop. I have a Lingo 2 which may make a difference but I never had a pop when I ran the LP12 with original power supply direct into a Naim pre amp either.
Graeme - from your profile i see you have a Naim source component. What's the ND5XS ground switch set to ? It sounds like you may have introduced another ground path via the LP12 so it may be worth setting the ND5XS switch to floating and see if the pop goes away.
Apart from the pop do you get any hum problems or any other strange noises ?
Graeme,
my experience with the Stageline K is that it is wide open to mains noise. My Sky Q used to upset it, as did turning on my kitchen lights! I was always a fan of it and found solutions or work arounds. Fitting a Urika eliminated both issues however....
Stu
james n posted:Graeme - from your profile i see you have a Naim source component. What's the ND5XS ground switch set to ? It sounds like you may have introduced another ground path via the LP12 so it may be worth setting the ND5XS switch to floating and see if the pop goes away.
Apart from the pop do you get any hum problems or any other strange noises ?
Thanks James, that was a good idea that unfortunately didn't work. The ND5XS ground switch was set to "Chassis" and I changed it to "Floating" as you suggested. For a few minutes I got excited and then realised that I hadn't turned the power amp back on!
There are no other noise problems. Apart from the huge "pop" it works very well. I have now swapped in a Cyrus Signature phono stage and there is no pop at all, although there is some distant signal garbage.
stuart.ashen posted:Graeme,
my experience with the Stageline K is that it is wide open to mains noise. My Sky Q used to upset it, as did turning on my kitchen lights! I was always a fan of it and found solutions or work arounds. Fitting a Urika eliminated both issues however....
Stu
Apart from the rocker switch pop it is amazingly tolerant; nothing else bothers it. My previous LP12 went into an on-board phono stage on my old NAC-92 (I think it was). Whenever the central heating came on it was like a bomb had dropped. My dealer gave me a capacitor to fit in the central heating thermostat. All I got out of that was a memorable electric shock.
Ah. There's been 'previous'!
Christopher_M posted:Ah. There's been 'previous'!
That was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away
Ah ok - worth a try. If you're keeping the Stageline you could always just mute the preamp when you switch the LP12 on. You mention a rocker switch so is it the Majik version of the LP12 you've got ?
Pev posted:I have an LP12 with a Stageline K and don't get a pop. I have a Lingo 2 which may make a difference but I never had a pop when I ran the LP12 with original power supply direct into a Naim pre amp either.
I did cross my mind to try a Lingo 4. That's a planned upgrade, but for the future. Then I thought that really the Stageline should just work properly. And what if I splashed out on a Lingo and the problem didn't go away?
james n posted:Ah ok - worth a try. If you're keeping the Stageline you could always just mute the preamp when you switch the LP12 on. You mention a rocker switch so is it the Majik version of the LP12 you've got ?
Yes, that's what I was doing until I connected the Cyrus. It does have the Majik power supply, yes.
Ok Graeme - well it could be just the switch and as Stuart mentions, the sensitivity of the Stageline to external electrical noise. On the Majik the switch is switching mains voltage compared to all the other versions where it's just triggering the motor to start (or change speed). If you can avoid it by muting the preamp then it looks like something you'll have to live with if you stick to using the Stageline.
James
james n posted:Ok Graeme - well it could be just the switch and as Stuart mentions, the sensitivity of the Stageline to external electrical noise. On the Majik the switch is switching mains voltage compared to all the other versions where it's just triggering the motor to start (or change speed). If you can avoid it by muting the preamp then it looks like something you'll have to live with if you stick to using the Stageline.
James
It looks that way yes. I'll listen to the Cyrus over the weekend and then reinstate the Stageline. The decision will be made on sound quality in the end... although the Cyrus is £1k more expensive!
Most likely an earthing / grounding issue between components. Best if the turntable power supply is on a completely different circuit that shares nothing with your Naim gear.
Adam Zielinski posted:Most likely an earthing / grounding issue between components. Best if the turntable power supply is on a completely different circuit that shares nothing with your Naim gear.
In an ideal world, yes.
I also had a popping noise when using my Rega with its own phono-stage. Whenever I started the turntable ... pop...
As soon as I switched to a SuperLine (powered initially from my NAC) the popping noise went away. I’d expect the StageLine to follow the same principle as it’s powered from a pre-amp section....
Adam Zielinski posted:I also had a popping noise when using my Rega with its own phono-stage. Whenever I started the turntable ... pop...
As soon as I switched to a SuperLine (powered initially from my NAC) the popping noise went away. I’d expect the StageLine to follow the same principle as it’s powered from a pre-amp section....
That's interesting, as I was also considering a Rega RP10 with an Aria but plumped for the Linn instead. It looks like I would have had the issue whichever way I'd jumped. A Superline is beyond my means at the moment (about £2.5k, I think). A Lingo 4 power supply is part of my planned upgrade and that might also solve the problem (no rocker switch). So that may be the path to take, just a bit sooner than I'd planned. The Majik power supply is only a week old after all!
I use LP12 with Radikal in my main system - no popping noises there.
RP10 + SuperLine + SuperCap in my other system - no popping noises either. When I used my RP10 with Aria - the issue was as described above.
Not sure if the above helps, but we may have narrowed down a culprit in your system....
Adam Zielinski posted:Most likely an earthing / grounding issue between components. Best if the turntable power supply is on a completely different circuit that shares nothing with your Naim gear.
Agree with Adam. Turning the RP10/Aphelion TT Power on and off generates a slight noise if the preamp is set to it. TT power is 600mm from cartridge. Phono stage is over 500mm from cartridge and further from other boxes. Very happy with everything. Apart from some surface noise on some records, it plays with imperceptible noise and sounds the equal at least of CDX2->nDAC+555DR. No desire to ditch vinyl or stream.
Phil
Just for the record, I ditched the Majik power supply and upgraded to a Lingo 4. No more popping! My dealer thought that the popping might be caused by Naim's aversion to filtering.
It's possible. Naim don't don't like such filtering as it always impacts performance. I get a bit of a pop if I press the 33 or 45 rpm button on the RP10 power supply to get the motor spinning up - but weirdly not when switching off. I think it's the Superline picking it up. I'm going to try to get a bit more space between them when I next rebuild the Fraim stacks (currently they are on adjacent stacks but same level) as distance seems to reduce the effect.
I also get this mild pop when starting the RP10. Just learned to mute the amp then... 
Adam Zielinski posted:I also get this mild pop when starting the RP10. Just learned to mute the amp then...
Yup, same here.
I get a mild pop through the SL2s when turning off the Rega Neo PS but nothing when turning it on.