Static build up on vinyl playback

[Big Dog RJ]

G'day maties,

Trust all are keeping well and enjoying those fine tunes, without a doubt!

I've posted this somewhere else, can't seem to find it and our trusted members replied promptly, thanks for that.
This time round, I need your help and expert advice once again.

The last time I experienced severe static was caused by me, as I was the primary static carrier walking across the carpet from the sofa, and touching the TT arm, would trigger the CT5 preamp to suddenly shut down. Expert advice given by AJ and Admin was to touch something metal prior to approaching the TT rig and grounding if necessary, that solved that problem, so no issues there. All was good until...

As of just last weekend, I've noticed a static build-up on the lower side of the LP. So when lifting the LP off the Spec aluminium disc mat, there's static going off like lighting causing the CT5 to trip again!

What should I do now? Was wondering whether a good wipe down with some anti-static solution on the LP first would help, prior to placing on the TT... ?

Any suggestions or advice is much appreciated,
Cheers, RJ

[admin]

Static is caused by friction, in this case, ie the turntable rotating or you walking on carpet, etc.

First check the turntable, the stylus ideally should be discharging the static as it touches the LP. Make sure the the grounding wire is attached properly and that is connected to a ground with the rest of the components. You may even want to check this with a continuity setting on a multi-meter. Make sure there are no rubbing parts on the turntable drive. Depending on the model of TT, sometimes the belt can rub against the plinth which could generate static. Are you using any turntable mats? Sometimes those can generate static by acting as a barrier for static discharge between the LP and the table. Again the best way to discharge static is to have components connect by conducting (or most conducting) materials.

If all else fails, put a humidifier in the room. I know from personal experience in my system that I only ever get static in the winter months, never in the summer when it's humid.

[AnotherJohnson]

1. Humidifier if possible.

2. ZeroStat Ion gun.

3. Conductive mat, platter grounded through bearing.

Don’t use antistatic sprays, like GruvGlide. They just mess everything up.

Don’t over use a cleaning machine’s vacuum cycle. Letting a record spin while felt lips rub it held in place by vacuum is guaranteed to build up a static charge.

[AnotherJohnson]

These have worked for me too.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... ap=y&smp=y

I use one at both turntables.

[AnotherJohnson]

One other thought.

From some bad experiences with some turntables, including one with an MSRP of over $12000 US, I have reason to believe that if the cartridge and platter/mat are at different potentials due to static charge, or for other reasons, I can hear record degradation from play to play. The progression is from no noise, to noticeable noise floor, to annoying noise floor, to “toss the record.”

Some might argue that this is a natural progression due to cartridge or arm setup issues ... but I have been doing cartridge and arm set up at a professional level for 35 years and there were two distinctly different tables that showed this characteristic, both with static and grounding issues in play.

In any event, this is one of the reasons I have gravitated reluctantly to the Linns. I am not a fan of Linn as a company. They are what they are.

But the LP12 is the absolute best, most well thought out, most well executed platform for record playing in the history of vinyl playback.

I have built several from the ground up. They are very well engineered and manufactured to tolerances that allow replacement parts to drop in and fit like a glove.

Grounding is the most thorough you will find on any table.
The Ittok and Ekos arms are the most precise and best functioning in the business when paired with an LP12.

Setup requires skill that most do not understand or respect, and that, coupled with Linn’s well deserved reputation for closed minded arrogance, kill the interest outside the UK in their tables.

Linn introduce a static collecting mat in the form of their felt, but the Audioquest brush is enough to mitigate it for me.

If you tour the Linn factory, you find real engineering and manufacturing departments, not some guy who is the engineer and another that is the assembler. Linn are the real deal. And when supported by knowledgeable dealers like Peter Swain of Cymbiosis in Leicestershire, the LP12 can take you to heights that no others can achieve.

Seriously.

FWIW, before COVID-19, Peter spent several weeks every year traveling around the world to service and set up LP12s.

[roberto]

Hola Chicos,

I have a ground cable connected to a copper bar that is is buried at my yard. The cable path is very important. All the chassis of my system components cables are addressed to the preamp, and from the preamp to this copper bar. I never had an issue with static again.

The cable gauge is very thin, a 28 size. You do not need more thickness for this purpose.

Happy listening!

[admin]

roberto makes some good points. If you have an older house or perhaps not a very competent electrician, I would check the grounding of the house as I've heard some horror stories that some homes that may not have been grounded properly. Some old houses never had a ground wire run (you see these old two prong plugs) and some DIY guy put ground plugs in but the ground is not actually connected to anything.

The grounding wire does not need to be thick or substantial in any way (as roberto pointed out as well).

[Big Dog RJ]

Many thanks for all your responses.

I was wondering whether wiping the LP down first would help but based on your advice/ suggestions, it seems like I've got to address this area more closely. I'm currently using a carbon fibre brush but I don't think it's anything as fancy as the Audio Quest brush that AJ recommends. Maybe I should order one straight away.

Re. To grounding:
Where do I start? With the phonostage TEA2SE since it actually has a separate ground terminal... if so what do I need to do?

The Rega RP8 does not have any sort of separate grounding terminal as opposed to the TEA2SE. Rather, its grounding is through the interconnects and passes onto the phonostage.

The RP8's dedicated speed controller housed in a separate box, does not have any grounding either. Just the connecting cord from the TT to the speed controller/ power supply and this little box is powered by one of those DC adapters, which carries a linear power supply; two prong unit at the plug and is directly plugged into the Nordost Qbase8 power board. The final grounding is at this point and then into the AC mains outlet.

Overall, I don't get any hum, excess noise or any disturbances whatsoever, everything is extremely silent, and crystal clear. The last person to visit mentioned that any further grounding is really not required. In fact it is one of the quietest systems he's ever heard. Several others have commented on the same, including every other person who's had an opportunity to have a listen.

If I'm to use a humidifier, where should I plug this unit?

One other person has experienced the same thing, especially with the Spec disc mat we're both using. On his system though, he experiences the same static crackle whiles lifting off the LP, he engages the mute on the preamp and this suppresses any loud pops, clicks or ticks through the speakers. He can still hear and feel a bit of static but it never shuts down his preamp.

I'm not sure what it is but the CT5 and ACT2 and GAT all gave me exactly this similar problem, where excess static builds up causing the preamp to immediately shut down. Speaking of which, its a funny kind of shut down. Not all the LEDs go off. Most are on- Source and Mute function. It's the main power that shuts off, causing the tubes to shut off... everything else is powered on but not the tubes.

Then if I were to press the power button on the preamp, it comes back on with a massive bang!!! Obviously due to the monoblocks being powered up. In order to avoid the loud transient pop, I'd have to shut down the power amplifiers first and slowly turn up the power back on the CT5 first, followed by the amplifiers. But this power on & off routine shortens the life cycle of the power tubes...

There's a tech chap, who initially setup the RP8 with the Benz Micro Glider, said that he'd come around to assess what's going on and derive a solution. I'll see what he says but in the interim I guess I can't listen to any LP's for now. Oh well, I've got the Esoteric digital gear, might as well enjoy those fine tunes...

Will keep you all updated, many thanks.
Best, RJ

[roberto]

RJ,

The static builds up from any energised electronic component. You must channel this unwanted static to ground, Usually the chassis are connected to ground, but with a little potencial difference, this static builds up. Connecting everything to ground and then to Mother Earth with a copper 6 feet grounding rod, there is no way that this static electricity can appear again. This is the only way you can solve the problem forever. There are screws at the chassis, just with the aid of terminal like this one:https://www.amazon.com/MICTUNING-Termin ... 186&sr=8-6

Happy listening!

[AnotherJohnson]

True in theory. But when all components in my system were grounded to the same ground bar in the breaker box, there were still ground loops, let alone hiss. And the ground bar was connected to a real copper rod driven into the earth.

And with turntables using peek or other synthetic bearings, it is easy for the subchassis, platter, and cartridge to be at different potentials due to static generated by movements. Add a mat that turns the platter and vinyl into a capacitor, and it’s even worse.

Shure was once the largest cartridge manufacturer on the planet, and many of their high end models actually had a brush to run along in front of the stylus, cleaning and conducting as it went.

If you take the turntable out of the mix, it is a much easier problem. But if you want to beat static charge at a turntable, even LP12s benefit from humidity, antistatic guns or brushes, and the like.

It’s just part of dealing with the heating season. On the bright side, it will pass.

[admin]

Many thanks for all your responses.

I was wondering whether wiping the LP down first would help but based on your advice/ suggestions, it seems like I've got to address this area more closely. I'm currently using a carbon fibre brush but I don't think it's anything as fancy as the Audio Quest brush that AJ recommends. Maybe I should order one straight away.

That looks like a nice brush and it may help. However, I would personally also look at grounding everything possible and getting a humidifier.

Re. To grounding:
Where do I start? With the phonostage TEA2SE since it actually has a separate ground terminal... if so what do I need to do?

The Rega RP8 does not have any sort of separate grounding terminal as opposed to the TEA2SE. Rather, its grounding is through the interconnects and passes onto the phonostage.

The RP8's dedicated speed controller housed in a separate box, does not have any grounding either. Just the connecting cord from the TT to the speed controller/ power supply and this little box is powered by one of those DC adapters, which carries a linear power supply; two prong unit at the plug and is directly plugged into the Nordost Qbase8 power board. The final grounding is at this point and then into the AC mains outlet.

You can experiment a little here, but the chassis on all these components should be ground. So you can potentially just attach a very think copper wife to the unit bodies (if they don't have a grounding wire). RCA plugs should by their very nature provide a ground pathway.

Overall, I don't get any hum, excess noise or any disturbances whatsoever, everything is extremely silent, and crystal clear. The last person to visit mentioned that any further grounding is really not required. In fact it is one of the quietest systems he's ever heard. Several others have commented on the same, including every other person who's had an opportunity to have a listen.

That's good. Means you don't have a ground loop issue. Consider yourself lucky,... sometimes it's a big headache to track down and fix ground loop problems.

If I'm to use a humidifier, where should I plug this unit?

Most humidifiers are nothing more than a heating element so they should not cause too much noise. Don't get any that have a motor or a fan built in. Also, humidity will hang in the air for a good amount of time so you can always turn it off while listening to music in the off chance it is doing something to the power supply.

One other person has experienced the same thing, especially with the Spec disc mat we're both using. On his system though, he experiences the same static crackle whiles lifting off the LP, he engages the mute on the preamp and this suppresses any loud pops, clicks or ticks through the speakers. He can still hear and feel a bit of static but it never shuts down his preamp.

If the only time you have a problem with a static discharge is when touching the record you can try to put a ground wire on the record before touching it any way. This should in theory run the excess static off the platter so it doesn't go through the audio signal path. Worth a try at least.

I'm not sure what it is but the CT5 and ACT2 and GAT all gave me exactly this similar problem, where excess static builds up causing the preamp to immediately shut down. Speaking of which, its a funny kind of shut down. Not all the LEDs go off. Most are on- Source and Mute function. It's the main power that shuts off, causing the tubes to shut off... everything else is powered on but not the tubes.

Then if I were to press the power button on the preamp, it comes back on with a massive bang!!! Obviously due to the monoblocks being powered up. In order to avoid the loud transient pop, I'd have to shut down the power amplifiers first and slowly turn up the power back on the CT5 first, followed by the amplifiers. But this power on & off routine shortens the life cycle of the power tubes...

Question, does this happen if you completely remove the turntable from the system and just play CD's for example? Have we 100% confirmed that the static buildup is from the turntable?

There's a tech chap, who initially setup the RP8 with the Benz Micro Glider, said that he'd come around to assess what's going on and derive a solution. I'll see what he says but in the interim I guess I can't listen to any LP's for now. Oh well, I've got the Esoteric digital gear, might as well enjoy those fine tunes...

Will keep you all updated, many thanks.
Best, RJ

I'm sure there is a solution. As for now, I would buy a humidifier. It's cheap, helps with static electricity in general, and makes breathing the air more comfortable.

[roberto]

This is the solution...
https://resources.altium.com/p/how-to-u ... connection

Happy listening!

[Big Dog RJ]

Rightio, makes perfect sense.

Also got right to the point of why this is happening and some of it has been identified in your responses. I got in touch with two chaps, one source of info provided by our long term trusted CJ importer and the other from my Esoteric importer who also imports a top range of analog gear.

It seems that the Spec disc mat is the contributor. There are tiny metal particles on the surface of the LP, also embedded in the LP's centre labels... when these are spinning on the "aluminium" full metal disc mat, they cause minute amounts of friction and due to the dry air we're experiencing at the moment, static will build up on the surface of the LP. So when lifting off the LP from the platter there are static charges.

These charges then pass down through the TT rig and onto the preamp directly via the interconnects and the CT5 does not accept or like this unwanted pop, as a safety feature it shuts down the power tubes section. This is a safety feature found on the ET series, ACT2, GAT and most CJ preamps having the digital array displayed on level settings, such as the CT5 etc. This won't happen on any of the PV series preamps other than the PV 14 & 15, which also incorporates this safety feature. This is basically there to protect a massive pop getting through to the speakers, since the amplifiers will most certainly amplify this unwanted signal.

Therefore, a few solutions are in place here:
1. Grounding as suggested a small wire from the TT to any of the metal spikes the rig is placed on, this will create a separate path for the unwanted static to travel through rather than follow the interconnects...

2. Take off the Spec disc mat and go back to the original Rega supplied felt mat or the higher grade carbon fibre mat I was using previously. (Can't do that mainly due to the investment already made, and it sounds far more superior using the Spec mat).

3. The anti-stat brush that was recommended above, which I have already placed an order.

4. In addition to the brush, there's another gadget called the Furatec anti-stat electronic brush something, that has its own battery power supply. It's a longer brush and can swipe the length of the LP or platter surface. Just hold this gadget once on top of the surface before a spin and all static is taken care of.

On point 4 above, all the dealers affiliated to his network use this exact same Furatec gadget and have found it to be highly effective, plus some of them also use the Spec mat and have experienced the exact symptoms I'm having. Therefore, I placed an order for this item as well and will be shipped out within the next few days.

So for now, just enjoying the digital playback on the Esoteric gear, once those items arrive I'll follow the instructions and see how it goes.

Appreciate the time to respond and informative articles, thanks for that. Will need to set this thing up properly.
Cheers, RJ

[Big Dog RJ]

Hooray! Finally can confirm the static has left the building!

With these two gadgets, highly recommended a must have for any one experiencing nasty static that trips off CJ preamps... definitely not a good thing!

The brush was not cheap nor was the Furutech D-stat III but whatever it does is bloody marvellous!

I read up the review by Paul and M Fremer just to see what this thing is all about, and I can confirm every word of it is true, including sonic improvement! So that's definitely a marvellous thing.

There seems to be static just abort anywhere, not only on the surface of LP's but also tubes, power amplifiers, cords, cables and discs. So as per based on the reviews, I used this thing all over the joint, and what a remarkable difference!

It looks pretty weird but definitely worth it.
And of course the Japanese had to figure this out...

Cheers to Furutech, didn't know they were based in Tokyo until now.
Finally enjoying those fine tunes on vinyl static free!
Best, RJ

[admin]

Great to hear. It's always good to have a solution that doesn't employ rewiring! We're gonna need a little review of this "Furutech D-stat III".

[Big Dog RJ]

Admin, the review of these products is already out. Done on two occasions by M Fremer and Paul G. They were reviewed in Feb 2019 I believe and the earlier version, which was the De-Stat ii was also reviewed much earlier.

The D-stat iii version is Furutech's latest top of the line and much improved. It's certainly not that affordable I would say and does require some thought into putting down several $100... but I guess as is the case in such a hobby/ passion for me, it's truly worth every penny!

It's probably another one of those best in value purchases I've made yet agsin by far...
Extremely pleased with it, and it's very well built, certainly no toy.

Cheers mate, RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

On page 47 of Neil Antin’s free book

https://thevinylpress.com/app/uploads/2 ... 01_pdf.pdf

He discusses an electrostatic dissipation mat from Bertech (#3059).

You have to cut the platter mat out of the sample, and ground the spindle bearing, following Neil’s instructions carefully.

But several who have suffered with significant static charges in vinyl playback have reported that Neil’s idea is a genuine solution to the vinyl - static problem.

Bertech 3059 is very modestly priced, and you can fit it using scissors.

I thought drawing attention to this might be helpful for some.

[roberto]

Thanks of the info AJ,

The method described there is the most effective and really the LP is free of dirt and fungus. Sometimes I am very lazy to do that well washing procedure. This procedure described here, is the top match way to get rid of all the impurities that are into the groves.

Thanks again for sharing this fantastic info AJ!

Happy listening!

[Big Dog RJ]

Yes, very good advice and point made AJ.

Infact, one other chap did mention exactly the same thing on WBF. I was about to this but then I thought to myself, the TT rig is still sounding superb even with the supplied carbon fibre mat from Rega, so why bother... just sit back and enjoy those fine tunes, and that's exactly what I'm doing!

Apart from that, since the Max version upgrades, performance on the TEA2SE have taken a whole new dimension! So for the time being, I started doing some research into different cartridges once my Benz Micro Glider is in for a change...

I'm considering something really different, something really top notch that can provide that 30 - 40% in overall improvement and so here's my top three so far:
1. Etsuro Cobalt Blue or Bordeaux
2. Kiseki Blue nos or the Purple Heart NS
3. Sound Smith, however not sure which one...

Based on the first two, they're very low output though (less than 0.3mv) and I would have to get the matching transformer or go for the TEA1 phonostage, which I'm not inclined to do so. Perhaps I'll have to experience these three carts myself through demos, only then can I make proper judgement. We'll see how it goes.

Cheers mate, and have a good one
RJ

[roberto]

Hola Chicos,

What I did to solve the static problem here, in my room, I have a dedicated copper stake buried in my yard, and wired to my system's ground. This solved all static problems. All chassis are connected to my preamplifier and from my preamp to this copper stake. You can buy them at any hardware store. This copper stake is dedicated only to my system.

https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Groun ... 6369368011

Happy listening!