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Rega Aria Mk3 Hum Solutions?

M

MarkF786

Member
I have a Rega Planar 6 turntable, Ania Pro MC cartridge, and Aria Mk3 phono preamp. The Aria suffers from a buzz or hum (60Hz or 120Hz) noise that's noticeable at normal volumes when not playing a record, and after extensive troubleshooting the most likely culprit is noise in my AC mains and seemingly poor filtering in the Aria.

How I arrived at this conclusion is if I listen to it with a battery powered amp & headphones, with nothing else connected (ie. no turntable), regardless of where in my house or how I spatially move the Aria, the noise remains the same. Some other notes:

- The noise only occurs on the MC settings, not MM.
- The Aria uses a 2-conductor polarized plug, and grounding the chassis to the outlet makes no difference, which rules grounding issues out.
- It is very well shielded, with a solid aluminum chassis, and all pieces grounded, and also the noise is consistent regardless of location or orientation, which rules out any RF interference.
- I’ve since tried other preamps (Rega Fono MC Mk4 and iFi Zen Phono) which are dead quiet.
- I tried a Furman line conditioner to no avail.
- I'm out of ideas :-(

I've seen many online reports of hum issues with the Aria, so I'm wondering if anyone has found a way to fix it? I otherwise love the sound of it, but the hum is forcing me to look for alternate solutions.

I heard @paul darwin from Rega participates in this forum, so I thought I'd give it a try to see if he might have any ideas.
 
Hi Mark, could I ask for some info, where in the world are you, what is your voltage, is it a mechanical hum from the unit or an electrical hum through the speakers, does it vary with volume setting, does it vary at different times, does external factors a/c, fridge, etc have an effect, what else is in the system, sub, av source, is there a laptop / pc/ router anywhere near, can you move the aria and reduce the hum, can you reroute cables so they do not cross or run parallel I.e. mains and signal, if you disconnect the planar 6 is it the same. I think that your first course of action should be to involve your supplying dealer who can offer local support and another Aria, he has access to technical support at Sound Org in Arlington (if you are in the US or Canada) who in turn have access to technical support from Rega HQ. But for me to offer accurate help and advice from (presumably) thousands of miles away is difficult, sorry. Best, PD
 
I have an Aria mk2 and I can't say I've noticed any hum, which is likely pointing (as you say) to something in your mains. Or a faulty unit?

Edit: mine is a mk2. I missed the fact that the mk3 is the newer chunky look, I thought that was the mk4 (as it is for the Fono MC).
 
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I have an Aria Mk1 and it is silent, as far as I am aware the three versions of he Aria are the same internally.

The fact that the hum does not change at all no matter what you do suggests to me it's the Aria. If it was an external source it would change when you moved the Aria around. The only other thing I can think it might be is noise on the mains itself. I've heard this, Naim amps are brilliant at it! But as Paul says, I'd talk to your dealer, see if they can help. Maybe take the Aria to them and see if it hums in the shop.
 
paul darwin said:
Hi Mark, could I ask for some info, where in the world are you, what is your voltage, is it a mechanical hum from the unit or an electrical hum through the speakers, does it vary with volume setting, does it vary at different times, does external factors a/c, fridge, etc have an effect, what else is in the system, sub, av source, is there a laptop / pc/ router anywhere near, can you move the aria and reduce the hum, can you reroute cables so they do not cross or run parallel I.e. mains and signal, if you disconnect the planar 6 is it the same. I think that your first course of action should be to involve your supplying dealer who can offer local support and another Aria, he has access to technical support at Sound Org in Arlington (if you are in the US or Canada) who in turn have access to technical support from Rega HQ. But for me to offer accurate help and advice from (presumably) thousands of miles away is difficult, sorry. Best, PD
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I’m in the US with 120V AC. The problem is electric hum that increases when the gain or volume is increased. It doesn’t vary with time or any other external factors. I haven’t gone around the house unplugging all my appliances yet, as I came to the conclusion I probably wouldn’t be willing to replace a major appliance to resolve the problem.

I’ve eliminated any system factors (after first trying extensive troubleshooting in system) by only connecting a battery powered headphone amp (FiiO Q5) and Sennheiser HD-650 headphones, with a 1 foot Audioquest RCA to 3.5mm jack, and no turntable connected. I could then freely move around my house with the small combo - I live in a 2600 sq/ft single family home - and from one side of the house to another, upstairs or downstairs, there is no variability in the hum.

Sadly, I bought the Aria Mk3 used, limiting any dealer support. I’ve read posts of people with similar problems, and sending their Aria in for repair only to find it was operating to spec. I disassembled the unit - I feel qualified to do so 1) studying EE for two years, 2) being an electronics hobbyist for 35 years, building many amps, pedals, etc, and 3) spent a number of years in my career repairing computer equipment (laptops, printers, etc) - and I couldn’t see any obvious fault; the grounding was all intact (testing with a meter) and the shielding seemed well design.

As a ‘last hope’, I thought I’d try ask here to see if there was any ‘known issue’ or ‘know fix’ when this problem was encountered, but it sounds like there’s not. I appreciate the feedback though.
 
It sounds to me like maybe there is something in the house that is dumping noise into the mains. At least if you investigate that you've learned something. And you never know, it may be something you can isolate in some way.
 
To rule out another device in the house causing the noise:

- I plugged the Aria with battery-powered amp & headphones into an outlet next to my breaker panel. I then shut off all other breakers but the one powering that outlet.
- I then powered off the remaining breaker, powered on the rest, and connected the Aria to another socket.

In both scenarios the hum was consistent - so if there's noise in the AC, it's coming from the outside.

Note, I have a lot of other audio equipment in my house (other stereos, guitar amplifiers and pro-audio gear) which do not have any noise issues - through granted, nothing else has the gain level of an MC preamp.
 
Really feel your pain on this. I've posted (at some length) about a very similar issue. My Chord Huei didn't hum at all in my old flat (or at least if it did it was buried so far down in the noise floor as to be undetectable). Then, following move to a new and otherwise lovely house at the end of last year, it hummed in a very obvious way. And it wasn't alone in that - so did my back-up stage (a DV P75 Mk3). The noise seemed constant almost no matter what I did - trying different carts, decks, and everything else.

This is currently just about under control because I've been able to set up the system such that any mains PSUs are as far away as possible; but it is still there. The leads from my P10 to the stage are also alarmingly microphonic. I am actively comtemplating going right back to MM (or at least to experimenting as such) to see if that will help.

It's as if there is something on the mains that is making the stage more susceptible to everything.
 
Tim Jones said:
Really feel your pain on this. I've posted (at some length) about a very similar issue. My Chord Huei didn't hum at all in my old flat (or at least if it did it was buried so far down in the noise floor as to be undetectable). Then, following move to a new and otherwise lovely house at the end of last year, it hummed in a very obvious way. And it wasn't alone in that - so did my back-up stage (a DV P75 Mk3). The noise seemed constant almost no matter what I did - trying different carts, decks, and everything else.

This is currently just about under control because I've been able to set up the system such that any mains PSUs are as far away as possible; but it is still there. The leads from my P10 to the stage are also alarmingly microphonic. I am actively comtemplating going right back to MM (or at least to experimenting as such) to see if that will help.

It's as if there is something on the mains that is making the stage more susceptible to everything.
Click to expand...

With the Huei, it would likely be possible to power it with a rechargeable batter pack - though obviously not ideal.
 
just listening to a MK3 (loan) totally silent at normal listening levels with nothing playing.

i intend to buy a MK2 based on what i am hearing.
ruled out the MK1 as there is a definite improvement which was implemented during the MK1 era but not announced by Rega. i want to be sure i get an updated model, so MK2 upwards.
 
Hi
My two cents.
I have Aria mk1. The actual musical path is free from hum, but the actual amp it self hums. This is a second Aria that i've had as the first went back to the dealer with even worse hum issue. This was some years back. Now we have moved since then and my listening room has changed to a smaller one i notice the transformer hum/buzz more clearly as i sit closer to the electronics.
Luckily i have a equipment cabinet so i can close the doors i need be. But still it makes me think should i change to mk3 version...
 
LRA said:
Hi
My two cents.
I have Aria mk1. The actual musical path is free from hum, but the actual amp it self hums. This is a second Aria that i've had as the first went back to the dealer with even worse hum issue. This was some years back. Now we have moved since then and my listening room has changed to a smaller one i notice the transformer hum/buzz more clearly as i sit closer to the electronics.
Luckily i have a equipment cabinet so i can close the doors i need be. But still it makes me think should i change to mk3 version...
Click to expand...

I too have had issues with a used Aria 1 which I purchased some time back. Tried everything including a DC blocker all to no avail. Reached out to Rob Hall at Rega in England who asked me to try a myriad of things all to no avail and later advised me to bring into my dealer whom by the way I had just purchased a brand new P8 Apheta 3 from. I brought in my Aria to compare it to his MK3 on the floor which exhibited zero noise and plugged mine in to the exact mains and we both immediately heared what appears to be transformer hum from the box. My sales rep said that something f is definitely wrong and immediately telephoned the distributor in Montreal who told him that I would have to ship the unit to Montreal (I live in Toronto) on my dime and would be responsible for any costs resulting from examination or repair.
I got the impression from overhearing the conversation that the distributor did not really seem to want to help. This of course is not what I have experienced from Rega certainly not here or in England. In any event I wrote back to Rob Hall in England to share my unpleasant experience and he told me he would contact the distributor himself only to have my sales rep forward an email once again from the same person he had spoken to on the phone with a contact to a service repair guy in Montreal. I reached out to that person to inquire if he had ever experienced this issue and he said no. I did not want to risk the cost to ship and a costly repair bill so decided to just live with it. I should also point out that I did ask Rob if I could bring it to Bay Bloor Radio in Toronto to have it evaluated by one of their techs as to me would make most sense, keep costs down and would eliminate any possibility of damage or loss during shipping. Oh well. Sorry to hear so many others are experiencing what I have experienced with their Aria’s
 
Conster, what you have experienced with your MK 1 Aria is unusual, and contrary to your "sorry to hear so many others etc" as for whatever happened after that I will investigate and forward your comments to our export department for their and our US / Canada distributor.
 
paul darwin said:
Conster, what you have experienced with your MK 1 Aria is unusual, and contrary to your "sorry to hear so many others etc" as for whatever happened after that I will investigate and forward your comments to our export department for their and our US / Canada distributor.
Click to expand...


Thanks Paul. Happy to share any correspondence with you
 
Can someone remind me please - is the Aria earthed to mains? I seem to remember it at least comes with a proper IEC mains lead, etc.

I wonder if my problem is somehow related to wall warts.

At any rate, this problem is far from being specfic to Arias....
 
Conster (or is it Conrad) we are currently wading through countless e mails to establish what exactly happened and how you were dealt with by Rega HQ and your local dealer / distributor, so please be patient as it is taking some time to disassemble and understand the whole email trail. Thanks, PD.
 
@paul darwin, ruling out other potential causes for the hum/buzz in the Aria Mk3, what options exist to get it repaired in the US? Any idea of the rough cost?

I've learned my lesson on buying used gear. The seller from Audiogon isn't being receptive to a return; he claims he had no problem with hum/buzz, and though I don't want to make accusations that he knowingly sold a defective device, the only other explanation is he didn't notice the noise.

I guess my remaining concern is I ship it in for repair and am told by the Rega repair shop that it is 'normal' as some people have reported in other threads I've found online, then I'll be out $1k+ on a useless phono preamp.
 
Have you tried the Aria in other systems outside of your domestic environment to establish there is a problem ? Again can I point you towards your local Rega franchised dealer or Sound Organisation our distributor in US / Canada for further support.
 
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