Diagraming The HP Rig And The Value Of Keeping Old Gear Lying Around

[FreddieFerric]

I recently wanted to add a second input source to my Woo WA6. Namely, my Technics SL-1210 MK 5. Problem is, the Woo only supports a single input. This is where the switch box enters the equation together with a lot of extensions and interconnects.

Particularly challenging was adding an extension ground wire to the hard wired (and rather short) ground on the Technics. I had an extra AudioQuest Ground Goody laying around that I bought, but never used, so it was pressed into service. A small screw, nut and 2 small washers fastened very tightly, together with some nylon tube shielding joined the two ground wires and fixed that issue, but left a rather noticeable buzz in the system.

Enter the Rolls Buzz Off. I had bought this device years ago when I was having a damnable ground loop in my old TT setup (JA Mitchell). The Rolls did nothing for the problem so I had set it aside figuring I'd never use it, but it really came in handy here. I was quite pleased to find it eliminated the buzz from the system and in fact made the JD9 perform more quietly than I can recall ever hearing.

The rub of all this was the connections. I was proposing to connect a single input head amp with a turntable, a CD player, a phonostage, a switch box and a buzz off. Finally the solution presented itself (I am rather slow in my dotage) just diagram the setup! Brilliant! And it worked.

So here it is, a perfectly good sounding HP Rig that can go from vinyl to digital at the turn of a knob. I like it.

(Thanks for reading. I really didn't have anything else to do this morning)