Tonearm revamp

[RochaCullen]

Hi All,

Currently I am working on a revamp of a TP 16 that came with my Thorens TD160.

I reallised that the only thing that was holding me back from using this arm was the dodgy headshell that came with it and the socket for the headshell that is within the arm wand (the socket was peculiar to thorens and didn't allow a normal headshell to be added to the arm). But on reading the following I decided there was hope for the old dog yet:

http://www.vinylengine.com/thorens-tp11-mki-or-tp16-mki-rewiring.shtml

Now, I am not au fait on tonearm anatomy, so forgive my terminology.

The problem I face after following the steps in the above link is finding a headshell that can operate without its wire socket. For a start the Thorens headshell I have, TP60, is unusable, so I managed to get my hands on an ortofon cast metal headshell. The goal of the whole exercise is to bypass the sockets in both the wand and the headshell and have one continous cable lenght from cartridge to phono plug. However, on pulling the socket out of the ortofon headshell, I found that the securing pin relied upon the socket to retain its elevation. And as you know it is the proud part of the pin that lets you secure the headshell to the arm.

So to cut a long story short. Can anyone think of a headshell that I can use which allows me to remove the socket and still secure it to the arm.

I have been looking, but pictures only reveal so much. The sumiko headshell looks like it has a pin running from one side to the other, therefore does not rely on the socket to support the securing pin, so perhaps that is a candidate.

Any info will be appreciated.

Nathan

[DSJR]

Surely the plastic terminal holders in the arm and headshell can be drilled out whilst keeping the headshell anchrage fixings in place. This would allow one-piece wires to be used.

The TP16 arm isn't massy these days and the cast headshell (plastic I think on some but I could be wrong) is perfect for some of the less critical MC's out there. Once alignment had been done for shell azimuth etc. it could then be loc-tite'd in place.

Sorry of I have it wrong, but an "SME" style shell would be totally unusable on this arm even if the socket matched...

[RochaCullen]

Hi Dave,

So are you saying that I have no choice other than to go with the Thorens TP60 headshell that I have?

Nathan

[DSJR]

Yeah, 'cos it fixes on the straight arm tube.

It's a good headshell, quite massy and non resonant IMO. It came along when ultra-high compliance cartridges tracking at less than 1 gramme were regarded as the way to go, but this doesn't apply these days.

The TP16 with carefully fettled bearings and a re-wire should be pretty good for decent high output MC's like the Sumiko Blue Point models, the Denon DL110/160 and possibly the more stable MM's about (Ortofon OM Red I think is the basic one and I've used the Goldring 1012GX in one with no trouble).

Hope this helps...

[Primalsea]

On my homemade tonearm I drilled out the centre part where the connection pins are and then superglued it to the arm wand. As long as you CLEAN everything first the superglue holds permanently (which may not be what you want although).

[RochaCullen]

The other arm I am tinkering with at the moment is an R200. I have managed to get it apart to give it a good clean, but some of the screws and grub screws were a little fused. I was attempting to perform some maintenance as described here:

http://www.audioorigami.co.uk/ArmWork/RegaR200InternalRW/RegaR200Rewire.htm

However, despite my best efforts I managed to strip a couple of them. Shocking I know. I was very mad at myself for that. The TP16 came appart like a dream. Getting the R200 apart was like an arm wrestle.

Has anyone any idea of a good resource for replacements of those little fellas, grub screws and the like?

[DSJR]

Johnny at Audio Origami knows the R200 rather too well..... All the little screws on mine are varnished/glued up and I wouldn't dare take it apart. The R200 bias adjustment is magnetic and the adjuster links internally via a small toothed belt, of which many now are broken. Id send the arm to Johnny as he may have spare screws and can re-do the bias as well as adjust the bearings properly.. As for my R200. It's had a Cardas plug fitted to the base (thanks for your soldering skills HiFi dave) and when my hands weren't too shaky, I made up an exit lead myself using an IsoKinetic socket, of which I had to abandon the rather fancy 90 degree fixing as the cable wouldn't go in...

Seriously, this is where an SME "Improved" fixed head arm would be worth a punt, as they're built so well, easy to adjust and all spares are available. Johnnie can re-wire and damp these and stainless steel arm pipes can be got, as well as steel vertical bearing "knife-edges."

[RochaCullen]

This might be sacrilege, but has anyone ever drilled a hole through the tonearm wand and passed the cable directly through the hole, bypassing the headshell connectors, and connected it straight to the cartridge?

I managed to source replacement screws for my R200 at a reasonable enough rate.

I've rewired the tonearm using pure silver. Unfortunately I've introduced a bit of an issue as the cable sleeving is just a little stiffer than it should be, which means the anti-skate is being affected.

I must post a few pics of my revamped TD-160, I think its starting to look pretty good, and hopefully soon enough when I sort the earthing and this anti-skate problem, it will sound as good as it looks.

Nathan

[Rare Bird]

Nathan the 'R200' is really worthy of a proper re-build/set up..My disabled mate i look after, i gave him an original Rega 'Planar3' with 'RB200'..He totally insisted outting the 'RB200' for a shiney new 'RB300' his brothered offered him, i told him it was a crazy idea but he wernt having any of it.So i fited it under duress.My ears tell me which is the prefered arm.

[RochaCullen]

I got the arm from a mate of mine who made just that upgrade, and it was pretty obvious that the RB300 was the much quieter of the two. However, the R200 still sounded great when it was on the deck. The other night after finally hooking it up and hearing that awful hiss which indicates an earth problem, I was ready to give up and just get a new RB300. However, I've since had time to think and will have another go at properly earthing the arm.

Nathan

[Rare Bird]

I recon sending that arm off & getting re-wired & set up would be cheaper than a new 'RB300'..I really do prefer the sound of the 'RB200' Your choice tho Nathan.Good luck whatever yer choose.

[RochaCullen]

Its a bit of a project for me. The cost of starting it was not significant, so I'd like to plough on myself and see how far I can bring the TD160 plus R200. Its my first foray into vinyl.

[DSJR]

You're going to hate me for saying this, but HiFi dave will agree as a very long standing Rega dealer, that a Planar3/R200 sounds comfortably better than a TD160/R200. I didn't work for a Rega dealer back then (circa 1980), but the very few Rega's traded in for a Linn were immediately put on dem and sold on in hours.....

[RochaCullen]

Well, I've heard the combination of linn arm and TD160 sounds better, but as I've mentioned this is a bit of a project, and like the rest of the hifi nerds here its just as much about the journey as the sound.

Still, I managed to sort out the earthing problem last night. Turned on my amp and switched on the deck, and it was so quiet I thought something must be broken. Deathly quiet. I dropped the needle and out of the darkness came the sound.

I still have an anti-skate problem, the added torsion from the tonearm rewire is causing the problem I think, so I will take it apart again tonight and see what I can do to stop the wire interferring with the arms position. I might have to bite the bullet and get some thinner wire with a ptfe skin.

Only thing to do after that is buy myself a dedicated MC phono stage to go with my DL-304, which is probably a terrible comination with the R200, but as I said, its a journey.

Nathan