Technics SL-23 Tonearm Screwup!

[Mark Davis]

I was taking apart a SL23 to veneer and broke the Tonearm wires in the bottom where they go into the arm base.
I don't have enough wire to attach to the terminal strip. The plan is to rewire the Tonearm and replace the original RCA cables.

I have a few questions and recommendations needed.

1. Has anyone rewire this arm and if so how did you do it?
2. What Tonearm wire should I use. I have seen this KAB wire and litz mentioned.
3. I need recommendations on terminals to attach to the cartridge.
4. What RCA cables do you think I should use?

The veneer job went Great, I just need to fix the TT to be able to enjoy it.

 

[dosmalo]

You can buy litz tone arm wire of various lengths with the clips already soldered on eBay.
You could also terminate them to female RCAs and try different low cap cables.

 

[RickeyM]

I was taking apart a SL23 to veneer and broke the Tonearm wires in the bottom where they go into the arm base.

The veneer job went Great, I just need to fix the TT to be able to enjoy it.

You had to know it was coming...

 

[Sandstrom]

I've used the KAB wire and it is pretty nice. Ridiculously flexible, was a little hairy getting it pulled through but everything went well in the end. I soldered the new wires to the old before pulling through figuring that would be the strongest bond with the least amount of bulk so it wouldn't get hung up. Stripping it is interesting; the insulation is really "stretchy" but it isn't too difficult once you get used to it.

As for the RCAs I believe many recommend using a pair of cables intended for digital Coax connections as they seem to have lower capacitance, in general, compared to many standard RCA cables. If you decide to get fancy you could install a pair of RCA jacks to the rear of the deck so you can try different cables out with a simple swap.

I would have to assume this table has a standard SME headshell. There are lots of options for leads with clips already attached as dosmalo mentioned above.

 

[Eric Lloyd]

The Litz stuff from KAB is great. When I had to do an SL-23, though, I had a newer donor table sitting around so I scavenged the wiring from that arm (it was another Technics - the headshell mount was almost identical). They are pretty easy - sandstrom's suggestion of using the old wires to pull the new ones through is a good one.

Good luck. Show us this cool veneer job!

 

[Mark Davis]

First the broken wire. The white one is to short to reach the terminal strip. I tried soldering a piece of solid 16 gauge solid copper wire to the terminal to extend it. Sound does not sound good at all. Although it could be the needle. I plan to swap that out this weekend to see if that makes a difference. The wire was very difficult to strip without breaking the wire.

 

[Mark Davis]

Before and after plinth no components

 

[Mark Davis]

Before again

 

[Mark Davis]

I thought it came out great for only my second veneer job.

I was torn on the finish but eventually said heck with it and went with 4 coats of Gloss. I typically would us Satin as it hides some imperfections.

The Gloss really shows the wood grain off.

Now I just need to get it working.