Audio Systems: record player, rca connectors, pre amp

Question
I have a stereo system with a phonograph, tuner cd player and tape deck.  all
sound fine except the record player.  The stylus looks fine, and is relatively free
of dust.  What could be making the sound from the turntable subdued and full
of static?  Is there some basic trouble shooting I can do?

Answer
Static from a turntable could be caused by anything from dirty vinyl to a poor contact between the head shell and tonearm, poor connection  from the RCA connectors to the pre-amp, the ground wire, a stylus that is not seated properly in it's cartridge to a faulty component in the pre-amp, not enough or too much weight on the tonearm. That's for starters. You should work backward by disconnecting the turntable from the pre-amp and turning up the volume to see if the static is gone. Follow that logic right up to placing the stylus on the vinyl.

Brooke - By no means was the information I gave you supposed to lead you to believe that you were wasting my time. I have experience with turntables dating back to the late 1950's. I've written manuals that specifically address the many problems that are associated with turntables. What many people forget is that a turntable is not a turntable. There is a stylus, cartridge, head shell, tonearm, and all of the connections to each of those assemblies which in themselves are components. I have experienced static problems associated with each part of the turntable and pre-amplifier. Since few turntables are manufactured anymore there is little reason to think that current manufacturing is even qualified to troubleshoot the problem. If you were to find the manual it is likely translated from Chinese, Korean or Japanese which means that you would be hard pressed to understand it. Having said that if you want to continue to follow my recommendation troubleshooting, I am more than willing to be of service.