SL-1200MK2 arm and phono lead upgrade

[cafe latte]

I've just hooked up 12" of cards twisted pair tonearm wire to run externally from the pins on my DL-103 to my V-LPS phonostage placed at the side of the tonearm. I used some small O rings to secure the wire to the outside of the arm and there is a slack loop curling up from infront of the pivot to ensure there is no restriction to arm movement (The stock earth wire is still connected). Despite this wire being external the 50hz mains hum spike is lower than with the stock wire and there are less peaks further up the frequency range. Initial listening tests indicate there 'may' be a slight increase in detail but it's subtle. I will listen further and see if any sonic gains are worth the hassle of ripping it apart to rewire it. Then again why not just run it like this

As the wires are twisted what is the capacitance of the wires? I realise it is not a major concern for MC, but it is if you ever decide to fit a different type of cart. Also twisted or platting wires does reject well hum, but there is no beating decent shilding. What may be worth experimenting with for possible marginal gains (maybe) is twisted arm wires, but just connect to decent rca sockets, then do the rest of the run with decent well shielded rcas to the pre amp. This way the capacitance increase should be small as the arm wires are short and platting them with give an extra level of hum rejection. The rcas if well sheilded will not pick up any hum anyway.
Regards
CL

[Trackside]

Not concerned with capacitance with my DL-103 and 12" is probably too short for it to be an issue if I was using an MM cart. Thought about making an external plate for phono sockets like KAB sell but it's simpler to just attach my V-LPS to the side of the plinth and run the cables direct. The stock setup has 4 dry connectors and 6 solder joints per lead and this has 2 dry and 2 solder joints so I'm not minded in introducing more as reducing these may well be a significant factor in any sound quality improvements esp when dealing with a very low level signal. This rig will be for vinyl archiving so when done I can easily resort back to stock. Still not 100% sure it sounds better either.........

[Trackside]

IMG_4309.jpg (500.93 KiB) Viewed 418 times

The final setup - the lead is held by 2 O rings to the armtube and curls up after the last one and loops round to the V-LPS phono box attached to the plinth with double sided foam tape. Although it looks like it does it does not touch the arm pillar so there is a nice relaxed curve for minimum resistance to arm movement. Note also the KAB damper, Blutack damper on the arm collar to armtube inteface and heatshrink on the arm. I've been listening some more and there is a hint of more detail and openness to the sound but it's not blowing me away but then again my system may not be good enough to reveal the difference so YMMV! Worth a try if you want to see what a rewire sounds like in your system without tearing the deck apart.

[cafe latte]

I would be surprised if much of the slight gain sonically is not the rubber o rings damping the arm. When I rewired my arm I put a pinch of cotton wool in each end of the armtube to help damp it as the Technics arm is rather lively. Before and after tapping the arm confirmed the cotton wool made a big difference and I bet your O rings are doing much the same, you should be getting a slightly cleaner more open treble with a damped arm. The Kab damper is damping, but not the actual arm ringing, but the stylus in the groove, the Kab damper is on my shopping list too. What are your thoughts on the Kab damper, how much difference do you think it made? I imagine tracking should be better but I have not heard a TT yet modded with one.
Regards
CL

[Trackside]

The O rings are very loose so unlikley to add any significant damping above the heatshrink which was on there previously which did indeed clean up the sonics when it was done. The KAB damper makes a quite noticable difference - bass is a lot cleaner but the sense that a 'fog' is lifted from the whole tonal range in the music is not subtle. Of all the mods I've done this is easily the most significant.

[cytovette]

I just finished rewiring my SL-1200M3D tonearm so I thought I would chime in on this thread. Mine was a DJ table in the past and had slight bearing issues so I replaced the tonearm with a stock Technics but before I installed it I rewired it with Cardas and dampened with a small cotton ball in each end. I also installed KAB RCA jacks on the back. Shielded Cardas is running from the tonearm wire to the jacks.

So far I have played side 1 of Randy Travis-Storms of Life and side 1 of record 1 from This is the Moody Blues.

Can I tell a difference sonically? Yes, but it is not dramatic.

I would not pay a lot of money to have it done, but as a DIY project the cost is reasonable for the benefit.

[Trackside]

Did you use the 32AWG 4x twisted cardas wire and if so any problems with the stiffness of the wire at the point where it comes up from the pillar and into the armtube? Take your point about the sonic benefits - after another days listening the difference is to me not worth the effort of dismantling the deck let alone paying to have it done.

[cytovette]

Did you use the 32AWG 4x twisted cardas wire and if so any problems with the stiffness of the wire at the point where it comes up from the pillar and into the armtube? Take your point about the sonic benefits - after another days listening the difference is to me not worth the effort of dismantling the deck let alone paying to have it done.

I used the Cardas 33ga separate wires for the arm tube. I also bypassed the circuit board that the tonearm wires and RCA cables solder to on the stock table. I soldered wire to wire, covered the connections with heatshrink tubing, then wire tied the shielded Cardas to the circuit board to stabilize it.