Mission 774 wired for mono help required please.

[speedracer]

Hi all, I have just bought a new stiffer 'arm tube plus rewire for my Mission 774 & would like to use the original with a mono cartridge that only has 2 pins. Just want to know what to do with the extra yellow wire really, I have some pin extensions for doubling up the other wires, or I might even solder them all on for a permanent solution, but again not sure what to do with the extra wire. Can anyone help please?

[Patrick Dixon]

Not really sure what you mean by 'extra wire'?

Stereo is 4 wires and Mono 2, so there are two extra wires.

I'd join the Left and Right signals together (Green & Red), and the Left and Right grounds (White and Blue) together; that way you will feed the mono signal to both the Left and Right channels of your phono-pre.

[speedracer]

Hi Patrick, & thanks for responding. I understand that bit, but the original 'arm still has the OEM wiring which has 5 wires for some reason, the usual red, green & white, plus a yellow & a black, so I don't know which colour Mission use as the partner for the white wire, or whether I can just attach the spare wire to either pair or if it matters which one.

[Barry]

You would need to do a continuity check between the headshell leads and the terminating arm cable with separate arm earth lead to determine the colour code.

Geoff (Walpurgis) of this parish is a fan of the 774 arm, so perhaps would be able to help.

[martinswimmer]

That is probably the tonearm grounding wire. It's either connected to the tonearm itself or the shield that goes around the wires inside. If there's any hum - you can try connecting it to earth. I might be wrong...

[walpurgis]

It's the armwand earth. Necessary, because the thick enamel on the tube prevents it earthing via the tube clamp. Tube earthing may or may not be needed, depending on cartridge and turntable.

Oh and aftermarket armwands may or may not live up to expectations and claims.

Tip: Never overtighten the tube clamp. It's not necessary and the clamps have been known to snap in half if abused.

[speedracer]

Okay thanks everyone.

Incidentally Geoff the new 'arm tube is from XAD, with their own Cardas 33AWG x 4 twisted pair Litz cable installed. It is a bit stiffer & a bit heavier than the standard one @ 25g, & I also use the same companies heavier counterweight, on a 401 with a Zyx R50 Bloom, & the sound is fantastic, a great improvement for a relatively small investment. I was happy before but I have to say the difference is not subtle.

[Made in 1968]

If i remember the original 774 chassis earth lead was tapped from one of the cartridge negs hence only four pins on the base connector recepticle.

I would personally wire up a spare wand for Mono use, which is easy you just need two internal wires, bridging the L/R + & L/R - at the base connector basically acting as a splitter