another tonearm rewire Q

[woodturner-fran]

Hi all,


I have a rega RB300 that I would like to rewire to wring a bit more performance out of.

I think a rewire would be a good way to go. Now I've searched here and theres actually surprisingly little on the subject. However one very interesting thread was where the cable from a mouse was used as tonearm wires - this is apparently litz copper, OFC, teflon and small/pliable enough and all that. On the other hand I could go and buy the cardas stuff at a cost of about €50/$70 or so.

So has anyone heard both? In real terms the money isn't that high for the cardas (and would improve the saleability down the line) but if I get comparable performance for free, well hey, why not?


So what do you all think?

Fran

PS rest of set up is teres TT, denon DL110 cart (may upgrade that too), VSPS phono stage, ECL86 valve amp Quad 57s.

[Nanook]

I've used the mouse wire to good effect in a DIY tonearm. I would try an "exterior" rewire first to see if you like the sound. Magnat wire would be another consideration--rediculously cheap and good sounding. No direct experience with the Cardas, but friends have, and their comments indicate that the mouse wire is excellent comparatively, particularly given the cost.

[woodturner-fran]

Well I went the whole hog onthis one and bought the cardas 33awg wire. I went for the 4 individual strands rather than the shielded cable. i bought from takefiveaudio and the fellas there helped out with shipping etc. He mentioned that he thought that the single strands were somehow lighter than the ones in the shielded cable so I went with the separate ones. Getting the new ones in etc was a right PITA. Took me a few hours to do it but its int here now. I used a piece of mouse wire (mentioned above) as the ground for the tonearm.

One thing though: I've dressed the cable inside the post everywhich way I can but the antiskate hasn't settled down yet. I can get it to be consistent across the record, I can get the tracking consistent across the record but the antiskate isn't where it was at before the rewire. Also its tracking marginally worse than before (using a HFNRR test record).

The sonics are better though, in terms of soundstage and detail.

So is this just part of the burn in period? Will it settle down with use or have I done something wrong?

(I should mention that I left the rubber grommet in at the top of the post - and I really don't want to have to try and take it out as its a single run of wire from rcas to tags).

What do you reckon?


Fran

[rkay5]

I have rewied my RB250 two times the first I used DISCOVERY CABLE 28awg tonearm wire with Cardas cartridge clips inside the arm on the outside I used 4'feet of Canare Star Quad L4E6S four conductor cable and Canare F-10 male RCA and a gound wire cost was low only about $65.00 the sound was better than stock but not much so I got 5'feet of 32 AWG silver plated copper Teflon mil. Spec. wire Cardas cartridge clips 4'feet of 1/8 Copper Braid for shielding ,Polyester Mesh Braid, Heat Shrink tubing Cardas GRLM Male RCA and ground wires 1 from tonearm to pre-amp and 2 from the cable's L & R copper shield to pre-amp.This cable is much better stock and the first 2 pice cable I made making for dead quiet cable deeper bass.I feel for beat cable in a Rega tonearm it should be a One wire type from cartridge clips to pre-amp. Robert

[woodturner-fran]

Thanks rkay5,

The sonics - I'm very happy. It was worth the expense of the cardas cable and I could happily recommend this to anyone. Its like its settling down more and more and things are getting better and better.

I suppose its to be expected that the anti-skate will be a bit different than before.

I also have a bit of sibilance - this was there before the rewire. I'm using a VSPS and denon DL110 loading in the VSPS is 47K. R2 is at 180R. VTA is dead level - and I've already had it a bit below level to see if it made any difference - none.

Anyone had this issue?

Fran

[AndrewT]

How long are the new wires?
I hope the RIAA pre is inside the deck or right at the back where the wires exit the arm.
Then longer wires to your pre-amp.

[woodturner-fran]

No AndrewT,

the TT is a fairly classic setup with about a 1m of a cable length to the VSPS and then less than 1m from that on to the preamp.

Can't do the RIAA inside the TT - and anyway the sibilance has only come since the new TT. Now maybe thats as a result of a more revealing TT - we're going from an old ariston RD80 to a Teres 340!


On a side note I adjusted the impedance downwards from the 47K to 800R as a trial but I haven't been able to listen closely yet.

more later..........


Fran