How to Ground a Turntable
Grounding a turntable is a way to prevent electrical interference while playing your favorite albums on vinyl. Electrical interference can cause audio distortion while playing, particularly in the form of an irritating "humming" noise that won't seem to go away no matter how much you mess with the settings. It sounds complicated, but the process of grounding a turntable involves no more than plugging in a specific wire.
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Instructions
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Locate your grounding wire. If your turntable is a type that needs to be grounded, it will have come packaged with this necessary wire. The grounding wire has a small metal clip on each end. If you don't have this wire, you can buy it online through retailers like Amazon.com or in person at stores like Radio Shack.
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Locate the grounding "screw" on the back of your turntable. This is a small screw that you loosen just a little bit. It will be appropriately labeled. Loosen the screw, place the metal clip of the grounding wire between the screw and the turntable, and then re-tighten the screw the clip the wire in place.
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Connect the grounding wire to your stereo or amplifier in a similar fashion to the way you connected it to your turntable. Simply find the appropriate "grounding wire" input on the secondary device and connect the cable to this position. Once you've done this, your turntable will be grounded and you will hear no hum while listening to music due to electrical interference.
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Tips & Warnings
Check the instruction manual of your turntable to see if it needs to be grounded before worrying that a grounding cable wasn't included. If your turntable is a model that needs to be grounded, it will be stated as such in the manual.
