I’ll take the description of the problem at face value, high pitched whine, and assume that isn’t AC hum. I’ve encountered that in the past and it has been caused by placement of the phono stage too close to the TT itself. Motor controllers are typically crystal oscillator based and do radiatively emit EMI, albeit one hopes at low level. As a general rule, with the very high gain a phono stage has by design, locate a phono stage as far away from the TT motor and for that matter any other electronics that may radiate as possible. I see you’ve ruled out the digital side, but have you ruled out the analog side (meaning the motor and control electronics themselves)?
I have located my phono stage, my SOTA Nova vacuum TT and its associated vacuum/motor control electronics in separate racks. Specifically to minimize any possibility of radiated EMI coupling to my phono stage.
So I took off the RCAs from the turntable and the whine stopped. Plugged them back into the preamp and the whine immediately returned. So it’s definitely coming from the turntable. Checked the connections to the cartridge and they are all fine. If it was a grounding issue, wouldn’t it be a hum and not a high pitched whine/whistle?
The cables themselves could be picking up RFI. Move them around and see if it changes. I found having them not vertically removed noise to undetectable levels.
Try a different RCA cable. When I use a Cardas Golden 5C from my turntable, the noise was quite pronounced. When I move it around or put my hands over the cable, the noise changes. But when I use a WW Platinum Eclipse 7, I hear no noise at all. I believe both cables are properly shielded so it’s something else with these cables.
I have P8 and it’s very sensitive to the RCA’s being clamped tightly. If loose, as Dirk mentioned all sorts of gremlins arise. The cable design is simple and unfortunate in that you can’t lock the collar when installed. You need to tighten then apply. A locking collar would preclude this problem. This may or may not be your issue.
I unplugged the rcas from the table and put them back in. This time I locked them down as tight as I could with my fingers. Seems like this made the difference and I’m not hearing the whistle anymore. So crazy that just making them a little tighter solved the issue. I guess that’s why they come with locking RCAs. LOL
Which is why I am puzzled XLR is not the standard for turntables. Also, each connection is a connection too much, tonearm affixed wiring would also eliminate a couple of connections (soldering in this case).
Anyway, we all learned from this and REGA does a good job offering locking mechanisms on the phono connections and cables.
Rega uses a single cable run right from the cartridge to the phono preamp. So, nothing can be changed by the user, except the cartridge. Somehow, they are following a system of you either like it as is, or not. All Rega products carry a lifetime warranty against manufacture defects.
Since 2014, I decided to have a no frills approach to TT & Cartridge, so I bought the RP8 with the Apheta cartridge and in 2020 the P10 with Apheta 3. If you purchase a Rega cartridge with a Rega tonearm, you need not worry about anything other than tracking force, and antiskating force which are the easiest to set. Calibration and tweaking was fun when I was younger! Now I, not the cat would bust the cartridge! LOL.
Nope, only one! He meant the cable that comes from the TT. The only way to replace the cables in a Rega tonearm is to send it back. Oh, and there are specialists who do that in case you want to use Cardas Incognito (either copper or silver). But it is definitely single run. I have two Rega turntables. I have an Origin Live tonearm on a Technics and that too, uses a single run cable!
Thanks for the info. I didn’t know Rega’s cable was unchangeable.
Now that I think about it, the Cardas’s connector has a flimsy connection with the center pin. Sometimes I has to twist the connector for it to make contact. And as I twist, the noise changes. So it’s not the cable, but the connection that is the problem.
Cardas comes in a variety of grades and prices, but generally, owners of Rega P8 and P10 would not consider tonearm cable upgrade as the factory provided one is of high caliber.
