I’m putting this in the integrated category, given the Sprout 100 is the nerve center of my system, sorry if it’s in the wrong place!
My issue: I have had a pair of Elac debut 2.0 b6.2’s for a couple of years now. The speakers are paired with my Sprout 100 and a Fluance rt85 turntable, with an ortofon blue stylus.
My problem: I am trying to play my vinyl at high (not max) volume, and there is an awful flutter/rumble sound coming from the woofer part of both speakers. You can see the woofer rapidly moving in and out as this happens. My Speakers are about 3 feet away from the turntable. Significantly, this has never been a problem before when I’ve played records at a high volume.
Interestingly, when I play music from the Bluetooth channel on the Sprout, NO rumbling occurs- why is that? Further detail - the turntable is grounded to the amp.
I contacted Elac and predictably, they opined that the speakers may be too close to the turntable “and at higher volumes the magnetic field from the speaker is causing feedback to the turntable stylus.” They suggested moving the speakers further away from the turntable.
You all have always been helpful, so taking this to the forum. Any help/advice would be helpful. Hoping this new problem isn’t anything serious.
I have experienced something like this in the past. I believe it was when I had my turntable sitting on top of my equipment which was sitting on my subwoofer. At lower volume, no problem, but when I cranked it, the wobble noise kicked in. if the speakers are on the same shelf or whatever is holding up the turntable, take the speakers off of the same shelf permanently, if you can. If you cannot do that permanently, you should at least try it. If the problem goes away look into some isolation feet to go between the speakers and the shelf and/or the turntable and the shelf.
Bad news… moved the speaker off the same surface as the turntable - and moved it further away - 7-8 feet or so.
Further, I put foam cubes under the speaker to reduce vibration.
Sure enough, when I turned the volume up (not close to max), the awful rumbling in the woofer is back in full force. Ps when I put the sprouts bass boom on the flutter came on at a slightly lower volume.
I went to another audiophile board to ask opinions, and someone said that I need a low frequency(high pass) filter on my Sprout, as the pumping is coming from low frequencies below 20-40hz. I don’t know what that is and I’ shouldn’t need to get a filter on the amp.
Im taking this back to this board bc I disappointingly got a short, not thorough answer from PSaudio customer service, recommending I move the speakers further away or ground my turntable.
So, trying again here with this update. I’d appreciate any other troubleshooting advice and if a PS audio expert is reading, I’d appreciate some help.
Greg
For any advice to e meaningful we will need more info specific to your set-up. For instance what is your turntable, speakers and sprout resting on? How loud are you placing the system and what type of music, for example is it bass heavy?
Photos of your set-up would be most beneficial.
Based on your description, it sounds as though you are getting acoustic feedback through your turntable. Isolating the turntable could help, placing foam under the speakers as you have found out, not so much. Relocating the turntable could help. It is unlikely the Sprout is the culprit. You may have a low frequency room node that emphasizes bass and is feeding back through the turntable. Other than experimentation, or relocating the turntable there are no easy answers.
One other thing I thought of that could cause this.
If your turntable is designed to be connected to an aux input instead of a phono input and you plugged it into a phono input, this problem can also occur.
If this doesn’t do it, I’m out of suggestions and I agree with weedeewop, more information, ideally with photos would be helpful.
The Fluance RT-85 has a separate phono preamplifier available as an option, and the PSA Sprout does include an internal phono stage. Theoretically the RT-85 should plug directly into the Sprout with no issues.
You miss my point, if there was an intermediary phono preamp, it could induce or exacerbate low frequency “pumping”. From the information provided the cause is most likely not the individual components, but acoustic feed back due to poor mechanical isolation and placement of the turntable with respect to the speakers.
I had a similar problem many years ago, and solved it by placing the turntable, a Linn Sondek LP12, in an adjacent room.
Ah gotcha. I think you’re right. Going to try an entire different set up - with components on more stable structures, and spaced out speakers, and give it a whirl. Thanks very much.
I honestly do not know….with all the input, I’m convinced it’s a turntable isolation issue….so working on that.
The turntable is on a multi-shelved structure in my unfinished basement. Admittedly not an ideal set up. But until last week it was working ok with not distortion. As mentioned, I’m going to change the whole setup. Thanks.
Good luck with your adjustments. Worth the effort IMO. Just a thought, I have tried a wall mount turntable shelf, (Target) and depending and where you speakers are with respect to your turntable, it can be a very effective solution.
I should mention some have very effectively used Ikea’s Lack table for their turntables. Reportedly especially effective with suspended suspension turntables such as yours or a Linn. Basically a poor man’s Sound Organisation table, highly touted by Linn. My Linn presently rests on a Sound Organisation.
