Anyone else into vinyl?

You should try a hospital grade outlet.  It’s an easy replacement and might improve some of the humming further. Tubes are notorious for auditable humming noise floor and it helped a little.  What really helped was adding additional shielding on the transformer.  

Oh this is bad. I picked up a set of Audioengine A2 speakers, much smaller than the A5+ I was using before (60W peak vs 150W peak). The humming was very quiet and completely inaudible during music, 100% acceptable with the A5+. With the A2, it's loud enough to be heard through the music, especially at quiet volumes. Unacceptable. I can't figure out what's causing it. Both RCA cables are good cables, and brand new (can't be cables since this happened with the MA770 and other cables). It isn't the turntable because unplugging the turntable from the outlet changes nothing. Unplugging the preamp causes an FM radio type of hiss, then the noise subsides. I'm so confused, but it sounds awful. 

Dev the issue with that is that my outlet in the living room is 2 prong, ungrounded. No green wire, since the entire damn house isn't grounded. I can't really install a hospital grade outlet. 

Any thoughts? I'm pretty frustrated because I just finished my setup. 

What does your signal path look like from needle to speaker?

U-Turn Orbit turntable (no built in preamp) > 3' RCA cable (this one) > Fluance PA10 phono preamp > same 3' RCA cable > back of the Audioengine A2 powered speakers. Then there's the power cords for the turntable, preamp, and speakers. And lastly the speaker wire between the two speakers, amp is only in one side. 

U-Turn says that, even if the preamp has a grounding lug, the turntable should not be grounded (and has no provision to be) as it grounds through the shielding of the RCA cable. All 3 things are plugged into the same outlet. Here are the ways I ruled some items out:

I had the same loud humming with the Master & Dynamic MA770 and a cheap RCA cable with an RCA to 3.5mm adapter. I thought it could be the RCA cable, tried another and the same deal. Thought it was the RCA to 3.5mm adapter. But with the new 3' RCA cable I got (that matches to the new one I got after buying the turntable), and plugging directly into the RCAs on the A2 speakers, that rules out the cable from the preamp to the speakers as well as the speakers themselves. 

Unplugging the turntable from the outlet changes nothing. So it isn't the turntable. Although the noise happening when the turntable is off and the needle is off the record was the first clue. 

Unplugging the preamp causes a loud burst of FM style static then goes nearly silent. This is with all the audio cables still plugged in. 

Unplugging the RCA (plugged into the speakers) from the back of the preamp makes the noise go away. Touching the ends of the RCA cables with my fingers causes much louder noise than the constant humming. 

Unplugging the RCA (plugged into the turntable) from the back of the preamp causes super loud bursts of noise, but there is still some constant noise there. 

There are no other outlets in this area. This outlet is not grounded, it's a regular size outlet with 3 two-prong plugs on it. 

A bit more info. Some interesting stuff. I tried an extension cord to a different outlet, the only grounded outlet in the living room. No difference. I tried separating the preamp power from the rest, no difference. I tried separating the audio cabling from the power cabling. No difference. But this time it was quieter, not really audible over the music which hints at dirty power. 

Here's the only thing that makes a difference. Grabbing the tone arm quiets it. Putting my other hand on the preamp's power supply makes it silent. The power supply being the plug, which has the supply electronics in it. Keep in mind the body of the plug is PLASTIC, not metal. The tone arm is metal. Does this hint at ground issues or power issues? Because unplugging the turntable from power does not make the hum any quieter. 

Definitely a ground issue. I tapped one end of a spare RCA cable to the shielding on the left RCA, and the other side to the screw on the outlet's faceplate. Went almost silent. Needs a better ground. Outlet is NOT grounded, just two prong, so I imagine I could just ground it to the faceplate screw? The gang box should be metal, and might be grounded.

Way back in time, my first system had a bad 60 hz hum that was traced to the turntable.  The magnetic pickup is pretty sensitive and if I recall my turntables all had a chassis ground wire.  The grounding to the amp fixed it. Regarding mag pickups, as a youth I lived 5 miles from a rather strong radio station and under certain weather conditions at night the pickup would be induced by and pick up the radio station. So they are very sensitive to fields.  I followed the above pre-amp conversation for awhile,  but the reason preamps came into existence and were necessary was to boost the milli-volt mag pickup output to the reference voltage, which I think was 1 volt.

Glad to see people still discovering and tinkering with the analog stuff. It's fun and rewarding.   In the last year I finally let my Technics SL turntable and Pioneer CTF-1000 tape deck go  after 40 years and going forward I'll use only digital. I did this for simplification but it seems even the simple stuff gets complicated quickly!

I have to chuckle at the aficionados on the hi-fi sites debating analog vs digital.  It's easy to get sucked into the debate with all the passion people have for sound.  I guess it all depends on what you want to color your sound 😉

I think you've figured out the problem.  I would try a the simple solutions before throwing money at ground solution products. 

Some cheap 24ga solid core running a RCA ground to something larger?  Do you have a old large metal desk you can stick everything on?

When I used to mobile gig I would have a different set of issues (or none at all) at every house and that's how I know that it's more than just the gear's fault.

With the Technics 1200 there is a ground wire mod that some of us do that eliminates the need for the extra wire.  We solder it internally to the base of the tonearm assembly.  But the 1200 is chunky turntable with a lot going on.  Not sure if the same type of mod would work with the Orbit.

So I emailed U-Turn, and wow. I mean I bought the turntable used, not new from them. They replied to my issue by sending me "better shielded RCA cables" and a breakout box that allows you to manually ground the turntable. The Orbit doesn't have a ground, but this allows you to ground it. I'm amazed. Really hoping this fixes the issue. No idea where I'll ground it, it's designed to ground to the third prong on an outlet but I don't have that, but I'll figure it out!

I also bought a new belt and a cue lever from them new, and will continue buying from this lovely company. Maybe a clear acrylic platter next? 

How do you not have a 3-prong outlet in your house??

It was built in 1938 and all the wiring is super funky. A few standard sized outlets with 3 two-prong plugs, one 3 switch single gang light switch with the switches sideways and stacked on top of one another. Lots of ghetto wiring. No grounds, even in the garage that has outlets in metal conduit. The dryer plug was wrong, for a stove. The garage door opener is plugged into a 3 prong to 2 prong adapter, plugged into a flimsy brown home lamp extension cord, plugged into an overhead light fixture that is switched. Yep. It's WEIRD. There is one 3 prong outlet in the living room. Maybe the kitchen? Lots of 3 to 2 adapters had to be used. My room has two outlets, the master bedroom had one. 

So here's something amazing. I solved it. I took a bit of 16 gauge wire, twisted it, unscrewed the top screw on the outlet faceplate, wrapped the wire around the screw, and reinstalled it. 

Then I tapped it on the Fluance phono preamp ground lug. 

So I attached it to the lug.

Almost no noise remaining! Definitely 100% inaudible even during quieter parts of the music. I'm thrilled. The solution is ghetto in its current form and I'll be fixing it, but I want to see what U-Turn's solution is before I start cleaning things up. Still, I'm thrilled that this is fixable. 

On another note, I'm not thrilled with these Audioengine A2s. Yeah they sound GREAT for the size... but that's the issue. They don't sound amazing in general. Not to fill a large living room. They're more for close field listening. I got them for their size and looks, and I'm suffering the consequences. The highs are a bit shrill, common with consumer audio gear, and the low end is a bit overboosted to compensate for the small size. The problem with the low end is that it isn't warm. It's just flabby and a bit boomy. Especially with poorly mastered rock and metal. The A5s in comparison are warm and pleasant. The highs aren't excessively sharp and are really detailed while the low end is stupid tight, punchy, and powerful. Not overboosted but it can rattle your ribs without a sub. I think I might pick up a set of used Audioengine A5s in black as a replacement... maybe. Not sure how I feel yet. The A2s are so damn cute and pretty.

I'm staying out of this discussion, while enjoying the folk-lore.

I recommend judging your audio system by its sound, not by its appearance.

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Don't place your turntable near a source of low frequency vibration.

Recordings on vinyl records  have no frequencies needing a sub-woofer.

Haha my main audio system that I use every day is great and not based on appearance. The turntable setup is, because it's in the living room. Has to be cohesive, neat, tidy. 

There's no way my turntable setup will have a sub! Unnecessary.

Good to see you in my humble thread OldMan

I disagree  with not needing the subwoofer but the same time agree if you get  98% of the subwoofers out there that are not musical and are made for home theater or EDM/ dance music.   A subwoofer is not just for everything below 80hz.  If the subwoofer is crossed over correctly  it can free up the main drivers for lows and balance the entire sound system. It can also add needed ambiance. Most people get subwoofers wrong including the industry that tries to package subwoofers into everything because people want to hear it go low.   

A good subwoofer in any musical system  is one where you don't hear the subwoofer.  

The problem with audio like everything else is absolute opinions when in reality it depends.