1210 MK II tonearm rewire...

Rev. Hayes

I was planing on doing Cardas' braided but in looking for the best dealer I've found dozens of conflicting accounts of the wire being too stiff and binding at the pivot.

Should I consider another wire?

just un-braid ~3" and hope for the best?

Also, should I consider buying and extra couple feet and running this stuff direct to my phono pre?


AAAAHHHHH!

I've got to be over analyzing this....






Oh yeah, who's the best to order this stuff from?

hearingimpared

Rev. Hayes wrote: »

I was planing on doing Cardas' braided but in looking for the best dealer I've found dozens of conflicting accounts of the wire being too stiff and binding at the pivot.

Should I consider another wire?

just un-braid ~3" and hope for the best?

Also, should I consider buying and extra couple feet and running this stuff direct to my phono pre?


AAAAHHHHH!

I've got to be over analyzing this....






Oh yeah, who's the best to order this stuff from?

Hey Rev. Belated Merry Christmas!

I have that very stiff Cardas wires in my tonearm and it doesn't bind the pivot not a smidgeon. However, my tonearm is not designed anything like the 1210 so if you are getting conflicting reports then I would be very wary of using it although it sounds wonderful but is a real kick in the behind to burnin the old fashioned way!

Mike's suggestion above is the route I would take.

Rev. Hayes

I was under the impression that the 1210 was essentially the same beast in black with a line voltage switch.

Also I told a friend with a 1200 that I would do his at the same time so either way I'm dedicated to digin into one of these.

Kevin is clearly the undisputed master of the tech 12xx mod and contacting him before I start certainly wouldn't hurt (if he has the time to answer me).

Rev. Hayes

hearingimpared wrote: »

sounds wonderful but is a real kick in the behind to burnin the old fashioned way!

Is there a "new fashioned" way? If so, do tell!!!


And a very merry christmas to you as well!

hearingimpared

Rev. Hayes wrote: »

Is there a "new fashioned" way? If so, do tell!!!


And a very merry christmas to you as well!

Thank you sir and Yep! Connect it to the output of a CDP or Tuner and let her burn. PM jm1 or ben62670 to find out how they did theirs. Mine was already burned in before being kick in the but by John (jm1). Hehehe!

hearingimpared

Keiko wrote: »

I've spoke w/Kevin a couple times. He's a good guy and is very helpful in answering questions.

Yeah he'll spend hours on the phone with you just BSing about audio too.

AudioGenics

Kevin is clearly the undisputed master of the tech 12xx mod and contacting him before I start certainly wouldn't hurt (if he has the time to answer me).

what a small world ... I just sent a note wishing him a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

There is no doubt he will respond to your inquiry.

Seasons Greeting to you !

Rev. Hayes

I just talked with Kevin this afternoon. As stated above he's good people.

He explained his take on the mods I'm going to do and pointed out a few trouble spots that I should aware of.


Thanks for suggesting I call him. Sometimes the INTERNET feels so big and impersonal that it never occurs to me that there might be a normal human on the other end of a URL.

Anyway, I seek more advice.


Suggestions on RCAs from the table to the phono pre?

Jacks so I can swap?, or straight wire to avoid all the extra connections?




P.S. I realize that this thread should have been started in DIY. If a mod would like to move it that would be great.

Rev. Hayes

Keiko wrote: »

Are you considering to remove the hard wire and install a terminal?

Yeah, that's the idea.

Kevin sells a terminal board that mounts to the the hinge plate. I will be installing one on my friends table but I personally don't love the way it looks.

If I go this way I'll probably just trash my table by boring some holes in the rubber/composite to mount the RCA posts directly on the body.

Then again, a DIN connector would be just one hole...... hmmmmm

Fongolio

If you do go the new terminals and seperate cables route just be sure the cables you use for TT to pre are phono cables as opposed to regular interconnects (even though some IC's will work as phono cables). Phono specific cables have the proper shielding to minimize emi and rfi. If you already knew this please ignore this post.

Kelvin

Rev. Hayes

Well, I'm going to attack this project this afternoon.

Fongolio,
I had not really thought about that so thanks for bringing it to my attention. I was under the impression that any decent interconnect would have sufficient shielding.

Thanks again for the advice everyone. I'll let you know how it goes.

Rev. Hayes

Did this week before last and it was great!

Unfortunately last week I decided to change my target light out to an LED (which is much better) and something happened. AAAAAARG!

My tonearm has turned into a microphone and the right channel is intermittent and acts funny in general. Even with the headshell removed every tap on the tube comes through loud and clear.

I took the arm back out and all the connections "look" good. I'd rather not start all over so is there something specific I should look for?

IE bad ground, messed up insulation, the dreaded cold solder?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

AudioGenics

if you have a voltmeter I would suggest checking connectivity - end to end .

looking at a solder joint with a microscope or under magnification
you could possible see a cold solder and touch up any suspected ones.

Rev. Hayes

AudioGenics wrote: »

if you have a voltmeter I would suggest checking connectivity - end to end .

looking at a solder joint with a microscope or under magnification
you could possible see a cold solder and touch up any suspected ones.

^^^

Check.

All's well there. (connectivity)

Keiko wrote: »

Could it be some incompatibility with the new LED???

Try disconnecting that target light.

That would be nice but no, the tonearm is completely separate electronically from the plinth and all devices on it.




I've now done every easy thing I can think of to check for issues (including google). I think it's time to just desolder and look for bad insulation on the wire itself.

What could possibly make this happen??? I thought that without the cart to pick up the vibrations and produce an electronic signal there was no way a tonearm could become microphonic on its own.

Clearly I'm under thinking this.

AudioGenics

just out of curiousity

what was the original tonearm wire capacitance
and what does the new replacement wire measure ?

from cartridge pins to RCA terminations.

I remember 1200 had feedback from the coupling of the tonearm to the turntable base.
You would tap on the top on the table and hear it thru the speakers when turned on.

unc2701

That is bizarre. I would ignore anything with the new LED- as you noted, that's 100% independent of the signal path.

Have you checked the ground wire? I had something similiar happen and it wound up being bad solder on the ground. Not saying this is your issue, but it might be one thing you haven't looked at.