[TomS]

I have an Empire 98 headshell that has some very tired leads on it so it's time to replace them with something more service-able. I tried cleaning them up with DeOxit and no dice. One clip already broke. The color codes are non-standard, just not good. Here is what they look like now:




I haven't done this in many years, so I am wondering what the best way is these days. I've seen lead sets like this that appear quite sturdy, decent contacts, etc. http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-HL-5-Tonearm-Headshell-Leads/dp/B000GUX38A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322678337&sr=8-1

Like most I've found, they do have sockets on both ends. As you can almost see in the picture, my Empire has the headshell leads soldered on the gold pins of the headshell socket. Are the sockets on the leads and the gold pins on the headshell "standard" such that they are intended to just slip on there once cleaned up or do I need to clip, strip, tin, and solder that end of them again?

Tom

[Wayner]

Oddly enough, the female ends of an old serial computer cable are the same size (or close to it) to be used as a cartridge clip. That is what I used. Care must be taken to dismantle the connector, but eventually you will have the necessary clips. While you are ripping the cable apart, you will find the color coded wires that you need. all being basic white, but you will find one with a red strip, a blue strip, a green strip and so on. I would also find some heat shrink tubing that would just fit over the clips, to help them keep their shape and they do help keep the clips on the cartridge pins.

Take care soldering the old Empire pins. The better cleaned they are, the better they will solder. You may need a volt/ohm meter to trace the wires to the various RCA pins and shields to determine correct color coding and wiring.

Wayner

[TomS]

So I guess the answer is yes, I need to solder the headshell end regardless. It looks as if the black round plastic insert doesn't come out and it's a pain to get down in there to do the work carefully and I don't want to trash it. I'm not sure if I still even have any db9/15/25 cables floating around but it's worth a shot. Those AQ leads I linked to are litz wire so I'm a little hesitant to try to remove the clips from one end and re-solder without destroying them.

The wires just run from through the tonearm base to a terminal strip under the table (no 5 pin connector) so it's easy enough to trace those.

[TomS]

I gutted a db25 and that seems to have worked pretty well.

Now I've discovered that since this headshell only accepts threaded screws from the bottom up, none of my small stash of extra cartridge screws actually fits the thread. Any idea what size that really is? Most of the newer ones are metric and I'm sure these 50 year old ones are not.

Tom

[Wayner]

#2-44 or #2-40 I believe. They are not metric. US made turntable from the 1960s.

Wayner

[TomS]

3-48 seemed to do the trick for the moment

That's the smallest the local Do-It-Best store had. Young thang there said "what's a turntable?"