Well, is the music even out both channels? If so, I suspect an alignment error in the cartridge mounting. Unfortunately that requires some expertise and experience to get correct.

If you purchased from a dealer, then you need to take the table to him for evaluation. If you bought used, then you need Michael Fremmers DVD guide to setup.

If the music is uneven, then it may be the wiring at the cartridge.

Buy a good clean pressing for testing. There shouldn't be much noise at all in a good setup.

Dave

please tell us a little more about your turntable and cartridge. are they new, used, how many hours? who set it up, you or dealer? more data will yield a better answer.

tom

Am I correct to assume you understand what "white noise" is? For the most part, it is what you hear between FM stations when the "muting" has been switched off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_noise

I ask because turntables don't use banana plugs so I'm assuming you are a relative new comer to turntables as you describe yourself.

There is nothing within a phono cartridge that by itself can generate "white noise". There is nothing within a turntable that can by itself generate "white noise". The same goes for the interconnects. That would make me suspicious of your diagnosis. If you could describe your procedure for troubleshooting the problem down to the turntable, this might help us.

I am going to go ahead and guess that your problem is a grounding issue and the "white noise" is a 60 cycle hum. If this is not the case, then I have no idea at this point how components that cannot generate white noise are doing so.

Do not dismantle the stylus/cartridge. But you can tell us what cartridge is installed on the arm.

Does the noise change at all when the arm is lowered and lifted from the disc surface? Does it change when you touch the tonearm? Is it constant whenever you have the amplifier's input set to "phono"? If you disconnect the turntable completely and switch the amplifier to "phono", what sound is heard?