1210 rewiring

[rdpx]

Hi

My 1210 is at the doctor and will probably need a new main motor board, but I asked him about rewiring tonearm etc whilst he had it. He said about £70 including new wires for both the inside arm and the RCAs, which makes me think he is not using great wire. It seems that is I am paying him to take it all apart etc then if I can do a rewire for a few extra pennies whilst its all laid bare then maybe I should do that....?

Now I have a spare set of these:

http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/XHA606-100.html

...and am thinking I can just give him those to use - am I right in that?

Saying that it would be very convenient for placement to have the RCA cables being 2m long - are there any reasons to keep the RCAs short? If not what is good to use or do I just buy any old 2M RCA connects? [or maybe better still just ONE 4M one and cut it?]

Other question is what are best wires to use for inside the arm and best place to buy them?

I know often you can buy EG a set of wires all ready that might cost £90, but that if you just bought the base wires from a elcetircal shop they could be a lot cheaper indeed - ideally I am looking for advice that will see me get some great wires for not much cash from a local leccy factors....

Cheers.

R.

open heart surgery showing PCB looking perfectly fine, but still it wont spin. The lights are all on, but nobody's home!
http://i.imgur.com/qoDRuzx.jpg

[Andrei]

First up: if your 1210 is a Mk5g you will not need a rewire.
If is a Mk2 or a Mk5 it is a good idea to rewire.
70 quid seems pretty good for internal and external wiring - it is a pretty tricky job, I would go for that. If you are twitchy about the wire he is using you can talk to him about it and maybe agree another - I know Cardas is popular.
Length of wire: usually two meters is just fine (occasional issues if unshielded). However the signal from the TT to the phono stage is tiny, so I think it is better practice to keep that shorter and have extra length elsewhere.

[rdpx]

First up: if your 1210 is a Mk5g you will not need a rewire.
If is a Mk2 or a Mk5 it is a good idea to rewire.
70 quid seems pretty good for internal and external wiring - it is a pretty tricky job, I would go for that. If you are twitchy about the wire he is using you can talk to him about it and maybe agree another - I know Cardas is popular.
Length of wire: usually two meters is just fine (occasional issues if unshielded). However the signal from the TT to the phono stage is tiny, so I think it is better practice to keep that shorter and have extra length elsewhere.

Thanks Andrei - I am taking the deck to him on Friday for the proper diagnosis and will be leaving it with him for at least a week as I shall be out of town. I will ask him about the wires he uses nut I didn't get the impression he had done much "audiophile" 1210 stuff, though he seemed competent and a nice guy...

I wonder if I should ask him to put the PSU outside the box while he is at it? After doing a bit of googling I see that what you mean is just take the existing PSU from the TT and put it into a new exterior box. When I googled it before I was finding just £300 all new relacements.... Any tips on what box to get to put it into? I get feeling with this guy that he will be really low price if I supply all the kit to him.

Re RCA length - 2M cable would alleviate a problem I have with TT placement, but if it will be an issue then I can skip it. Would be nice to put the TT further from my Brio-3 though it is purely for aesthetic reasons...

I'll look up CARDAS wires. Am I good to go with just any old decent RCAs though?

R

[Andrei]

I wonder if I should ask him to put the PSU outside the box while he is at it?
Hell yeah! Maybe take some screenshots from the threads with you.



Re RCA length - 2M cable would alleviate a problem I have with TT placement, but if it will be an issue then I can skip it. Would be nice to put the TT further from my Brio-3 though it is purely for aesthetic reasons...
I'll look up CARDAS wires. Am I good to go with just any old decent RCAs though?

I mentioned Cardas as it comes as a "Rewire Kit" for tonearms. A tonearm rewire does need good wire because of the minute signal. Even more finicky is the wiring inside the armwand. For that part at least I would say 'no, not any old cable' but get a kit (Cardas is one example). That part of the wiring runs from the arm-wand to a small PCB within the tonearm mount. From there an interconnect runs out to the phono stage or phono input on the pre/integrated amp. That will have RCAs on one end and the other will be soldered onto that same small PCB. The one you linked in your first post seems pretty decent. [Edit: The RCA cable should be shielded, often not necessary but for a phono lead of 2m I consider it mandatory. So not the one you linked.]

I suggest reading this fabulous thread http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?26652-Rewiring-SL-1200-Tonearm
Again take a pile of screenshots to your doctor

[rdpx]

Andrei

it just occured to me that instead of going through all the hassle of ripping off the rubber insulation underneath the Technics platter, why would you not just put DYNAMAT, or some similar 3 or 5mm thick sound damping mat ON TOP of the platter, thus killing two birds with one stone (IE insulating the platter AND avoiding need for a further acrhomat or whatever special platter mat)

Maybe I am missing something?

R

EG: http://www.noisetek.fi/en/rasvaimen.html

[PS yr mailbox is full!]

[Ianmac]

I used an open weave silicon rubber non slip matt 2.5mm thick. Placed on top of the platter inside the outer ring. A technics rubber matt sits on top of this.
You can buy a roll of the nonslip matt from Autostores or Quality DIY stores for a few pounds. Numerous other applications for vibration absorbtion

Re noisetek It seems from the spec sheet to have quite a wide tolerance for thickess . Doesn't say if this is across a sheet or measurement made at spot positions. I would be looking for something flatter
http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz168/Ianmac_album/090326technics002.jpg
http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz168/Ianmac_album/090326technics003.jpg

[Andrei]

Andrei

it just occured to me that instead of going through all the hassle of ripping off the rubber insulation underneath the Technics platter, why would you not just put DYNAMAT, or some similar 3 or 5mm thick sound damping mat ON TOP of the platter, thus killing two birds with one stone (IE insulating the platter AND avoiding need for a further acrhomat or whatever special platter mat)
Maybe I am missing something?

No don't use dynamat on top of the platter. First you will not get it level. Second, it has a metal film on top - not the kind of surface you want your records to touch. Don't even try it - is a a bugger to remove. you can damp the inside of the chassis with the stuff - it does a good job.


I used an open weave silicon rubber non slip matt 2.5mm thick. Placed on top of the platter inside the outer ring. A technics rubber matt sits on top of this.
You can buy a roll of the nonslip matt from Autostores or Quality DIY stores for a few pounds. Numerous other applications for vibration absorbtion
Re noisetek It seems from the spec sheet to have quite a wide tolerance for thickess . Doesn't say if this is across a sheet or measurement made at spot positions. I would be looking for something flatter

That looks interesting.

[Marco]

Interesting indeed (the open weave stuff), but in my experience, sonically, rubber is about one of the worst things to make a T/T mat from, as its impedance match with vinyl itself is poor. Consequently, it produces a 'thick' and opaque sound, in comparison with something else better suited to the job, such as an Achromat (or Resomat), which works on a different principle.

Therefore, if it were me, I'd use the open weave stuff to damp the platter, and place an Achromat (or Resomat) on top of that, either of which will interface more effectively with vinyl records, and consequently produce far superior sonic results :)

Marco.