Rewiring tonearms.

Marbles · « **on:** 22 Aug 2004, 03:00 pm »

I have an SME IV tonearm that I might want to have rewired some day.

It has a din connector currently, but If I had it rewired, I would probably want it termed in female (WBT Nextgen) RCA's to make changing IC's easy. or 1/2M long termed in male WBT Nextgen's to plug directly into my phono pre.

Is this something you can do? What wire would you use? Gauge etc...

Do you have any recomendations?

Thanks

Robert C. Schult · « **Reply #1 on:** 22 Aug 2004, 08:36 pm »

Hi Marbles.

One of the main issues I address with rewiring a tone arm is the different losses that most internal wiring imposes on the signal. It's substantial when compared to a good replacement wire like the commonly used Cardas or Discovery small gauge wires.

We use a 30 gauge solid core high purity, high quality (distinct from purity) silver wire that goes through a couple of different annealing processes. The annealing processes do a couple of things. It produces a "dead soft" wire that is flexible enough for a tone arm app. and it restores the crystal structure of the wire...very important being that the music signal is so small and needs to encounter as few as possible internal boundaries of the conductor alloy.

Another thing we care to is the insulator we use. Our tone arm wire incorporates our CordLess Cable technology. No one I'm aware of (aware of or not, I'm betting there just isn't anyone) doing tone arm wiring with the same intensive care we give it. At milli-volt levels, dielectric losses/smearing and mechanical resonances are all the more important to address.

I would also suggest that your best option is going to be running the internal wire straight to your pre with whatever connector you choose...Male NextGen RCAs in you case. Again, losses are at issue here. Connections equal some degree of loss.

I think your Teres and SME IV deserve the best you can give it and I think your ears and music enjoyment deserve it too.

Does this help?

Marbles · « **Reply #2 on:** 22 Aug 2004, 09:00 pm »

Quote from: Robert C. Schult

I think your Teres and SME IV deserve the best you can give it and I think your ears and music enjoyment deserve it too. ..

I think so too

What clips to the cartridge do you use or recommend?

Robert C. Schult · « **Reply #3 on:** 22 Aug 2004, 10:17 pm »

Ducktape.

Marbles · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 Aug 2004, 01:18 am »

Quote from: Robert C. Schult

Another thing we care to is the insulator we use. Our tone arm wire incorporates our CordLess Cable technology. No one I'm aware of (aware of or not, I'm betting there just isn't anyone) doing tone arm wiring with the same intensive care we give it. ...

I looked on your website but didn't see any info on your Cordless Cable technology. What is it?

Also, what insulation do you use outside the tonearm?

Thanks

(and it's duct tape)

unless you tape up ducks

bubba966 · « **Reply #5 on:** 23 Aug 2004, 05:37 am »

Quote from: Marbles

(and it's duct tape) unless you tape up ducks

More info on Duct or Duck

Robert C. Schult · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 Aug 2004, 12:00 pm »

Hi Marbles and thanks for the clarification Budda.

The CordLess Cable technology is a combination of the topology we use for a given application, the insulators used and how they are applied, the entire processing our silver goes through before it's used in a finished cable and finally, the construction process itself.

CordLess Cabling is labor intensive as there isn't a manufacturing process that can accomplish our objectives. What tooling we use all had to be custom built and is affectionately called here the "Cable Table". One of these accommodates all the cables we make but we may have two of these soon. I'm pretty proud of this piece of equipment and what it enables us to do.

The covering we use on the tone arm wire is a thin treated Teflon that is buffered from the cable itself. It's only purpose is to serve as protection from the "elements".

You asked about the clips. We use a computer grade type of clip that maintains constant contact pressure even when disconnected and reconnected over however many times. It has like a spring tension action to it. As far as I know, these are unique to our tone arm wire. Used to use Cardas but they don't maintain constant contact pressure and they "spread" with use.

Wellfed · « **Reply #7 on:** 25 Aug 2004, 10:37 pm »

What is the cost of your tonearm rewire? Balanced with XLR termination. Also, how long does it take?

Robert C. Schult · « **Reply #8 on:** 26 Aug 2004, 03:17 am »

Hi Wellfed.

First, welcome to AudioCircle! I trust you'll enjoy this site and find it to be a great resource for all things audio and so forth.

You're a Driscoll fan? "A Different Man" really is a great collection. One of the reasons I enjoy it is it's not your worn and typical/predictable "Christian Rock". I especially like the song by the same title. It's not a collection of lyrical clichés but rather a song penned from experience..."real" if you will. Says me anyway.

Depending on the arm the cost can vary. Generally, between $250.00 to $350.00. What cart., arm and table are you using?

Also, I'll probably be able to respond to you faster id you email us direct at ridgestreetaudio@comcast.net

Wellfed · « **Reply #9 on:** 26 Aug 2004, 02:32 pm »

Graham Nightingale cartridge
Tri-Planar Mk. VII tone arm
Atma-Sphere 208 table

I require a balanced connection from cartridge pins to XLR's per the following specifications. (No DIN please)

http://www.otlamp.com/faq/phono/index.html

BTW, I am a fan of Phil Driscoll and have a number of his titles, including a few on LP.

Robert C. Schult · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 Aug 2004, 07:56 am »

Willfred...you have a Private Message (PM).

Marbles · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Aug 2004, 01:10 pm »

Robert now has my arm (and cartridge) and will rewire in some unique and innovative ways. I'll let you know how it comes out. Might take 3-4 weeks though.

He will rewire it with the tonearm cable going out the back about .75M to WBT Nextgen male RCA's so I can plug directly into the phono pre, removing the din connectors from the signal path. The tonearm cable will be wrapped in teflon insulation.

There are other things, but I don't know if Robert wants them published. I don't know of any other arm wired the way he is going to (attempt) to do it, but I'm very much looking forward to getting it back and testing it out!

Wellfed · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Sep 2004, 05:07 am »

Quote from: Marbles

Robert now has my arm (and cartridge) and will rewire in some unique and innovative ways. I'll let you know how it comes out. Might take 3-4 weeks though.

He will rewire it with the tonearm cable going out the back about .75M to WBT Nextgen male RCA's so I can plug directly into the phono pre, removing the din connectors from the signal path. The tonearm cable will be wrapped in teflon insulation.

There are other things, but I don't know if Robert wants them published. I don't know of any other ar ...

I truly appreciate your offer Marbles, I will be on the lookout for your post. I am in no hurry, in any case, as I am on a mission to tweak my digital system and all of my current efforts have been towards this end.

seppstefano · « **Reply #13 on:** 21 Sep 2004, 09:44 am »

Quote from: Robert C. Schult

Ducktape.

Hi all and sorry for jumping in, but the idea of Ducktape is just a joke or a serious one?

I mean, I can see advantages and drawbacks (not practical, I see), but it should avoid metal clips and solder.

Thanks a lot for your patience,

Stefano, from Italy

Marbles · « **Reply #14 on:** 21 Sep 2004, 02:17 pm »

I hope it's a joke, but with Robert, you never know

Hopefully the rewiring will be finished this week.

seppstefano · « **Reply #15 on:** 21 Sep 2004, 02:31 pm »

Quote from: Marbles

I hope it's a joke, but with Robert, you never know

Hopefully the rewiring will be finished this week.

Hi Marbles,
thanks a lot for replying. Indeed I was thinking of something like the zero-connector approach used for interconnects on:

http://zenn.com.sg/zero_connector.htm

Sure, it is not practical, a nightmare for any cart exchange, but it would reduce dramatically effects caused by metal junctions. Any opinion/hint/idea is welcome!

Ciao,

Stefano

JoshK · « **Reply #16 on:** 21 Sep 2004, 02:41 pm »

OT Warning:

Love that link Stefano! Absolutely great idea for us cheapstake audiphiles.

:End of OT

I am interested to hear your results Marbles.

seppstefano · « **Reply #17 on:** 21 Sep 2004, 02:50 pm »

Quote from: JoshK

OT Warning:

Love that link Stefano! Absolutely great idea for us cheapstake audiphiles.

:End of OT

Hi JoshK, thank you and really congrat for your great system!

BTW, have you ever had experience in naking a cartridge?

I've got a Goldring 1042 and would be interested in examining it, in
order to check whether is possible to reduce the amount of possibly
vibrating plastic on the shell.

Have you any experience to share?

TIA,

Stefano

Marbles · « **Reply #18 on:** 5 Oct 2004, 03:38 pm »

Robert hand delivered my rewired tonearm last night.

I won't go into all the details of our trials in re-mounting the tonearm, but 2 hours later we were ready to listen

The arm/cart is not dialed in yet. I'm still playing with tracking force and VTA, but I can already tell that more of the signal is making it through.

I'd have to say that I'm very pleased with this upgrade so far and can recommend Roberts work.

Robert made the cartridge connectors by looping the very end of his wire.
This means that the wire has NO connections from my cartridge to my phono pre. This preserves the signal better than any other way possible.

The wire as connectors means I can't change out cartridges frequently, but I didn't anyway. Other than that, it's Da Bomb!

Thanks for the great job Robert.

seppstefano · « **Reply #19 on:** 7 Oct 2004, 11:25 am »

Quite interesting! I'll apply this zero-connector approach to my new arm rewiring, too.

No hints on Goldring??? (Drawings, in order to tweak it...?)

Ciao,

Stefano