Thanks for responding. It's a 'hum' and not static. I am using a Grado Gold cartridge with a Luxman PD 272 turntable. How could I ground the table itself? And I've never heard of the Grado 'hum'. This is a recent development and this must be my 4rd Grado Gold cartridge in the past several years. Never had this 'hum' before. And it only occurs over the platter as you draw the tone arm toward the spindle. Strange. Maybe my hearing is actually becoming more acute as I get older! ho ho ho! : (