Yamaha PX-2 Tonearm Rewire + Other Upgrades

VladTheImpal

Active Member
Greetings!

A bit of an introduction/background: I recently acquired my first ever turntable - a gorgeous, freshly serviced Yamaha PX-2 with an upgraded brass counter-weight. I did some research before purchasing and I'm very pleased with the table. Since getting into audio, I have tried to seek out excellent products at great prices - the kinds of products that outperform everything in their price range - the "giant killer" type products which make you wonder why someone would pay more, as one would have to spend double or triple to hear any substantial improvement. I think this PX-2 was an amazing find, especially as I only paid $689 Canadian for the thing, and it came with a mint condition Shure V15 V-MR with a fresh retip by Soundsmith that had just 1 hour on it. The copper mat in the pictures is sold separately. It's 100% copper, CNC machined. For now, I just purchased the table with the rubber Yamaha mat, but I do plan to upgrade to the 100% copper mat next month. According to the previous owner, the mat is a substantial upgrade which makes this table rival certain other tables hew has tried that cost up to 10k.

I've been very impressed with the sound coming from this table, even before upgrading the phono stage and cartridge. At first I had it set up with my Sanyo JCX 2300K integrated amplifier, running the Shure V15 V-MR, but now I am using an iFi iPhono as my phono stage and running an Audio Technica OC9ML/II. The OC9ML/II has not yet broken in, it probably only has about 20 hours on it - it sounds a little bright but great to my ears.

I got into audio a year ago, and into vinyl about 8 months ago. I originally distrusted vinyl and was confused by audiophiles who listen to "vinyl rips." One day, however, I decided to sit down, pay close attention, and do some serious critical listening with my Resonessence Labs Concero HP DAC to see if there was any merit to vinyl. The reading I did on the subject lead me to trying out some vinyl rips by the famous pbthal, and that was what ultimately convinced me of the superiority of vinyl to CD. The sound coming from pbthal's system was incredible, and I after spending a couple of weeks trying to pick my jaw up off the floor and listening to as many of pbthal's rips as I could, I set a goal for myself to build a system that rivals his. He uses a VPI Scoutmaster with quite a few upgrades, and after seeing how much high-end audio gear can cost, I decided to see if I could build a great setup on bit of a budget.

I'm not saying this to start a debate about whether the Yamaha PX-2 matches the quality of the Scoutmaster, but for my personal taste, it gets close enough to a very satisfying high-end sound that it leaves me thoroughly impressed and extremely pleased. It sounds natural and musical enough that it makes it very easy to get lost in the music. It's a truly fantastic table capable of outperforming other tables that cost many times more.

So, what I would like to do is make some modifications, over time, to further improve its sound. The main mod I'm targeting is the tonearm rewire, and while I'm at it, I'd like to install an interconnect/junction box instead of using the original yamaha phono cable, kind of like how this guy has done. Unfortunately, he does not leave instructions. The only other mod I was able to find online is this one, and it doesn't have instructions either.

I'm very confident in my technical abilities as well as my soldering abilities, although I admit that I'm much better at taking things apart than putting them back together. This is a really complicated table, and I'd like to undertake this mod while keeping any disassembling to a minimum. I'd like to undertake this mod, and while I'm confident, I also want to be sure that I don't mess it up, so I'm wondering if any experienced Yamaha PX-2 users or technicians would have any advice for a procedure like this. For example, the two mods I was able to find (linked above) use slightly different strategies for the rewiring - one guy forces the wire out of the arm itself, while the other guy either drills a hole in the side of the arm assembly, or gets the wire to come out from underneath it somehow.

Do I absolutely need to remove the arm assembly in order to undertake this mod? If I insert new wiring into the tonearm, run it outside the arm to a junction box like the two mods I linked to, would it then be necessary to remove the old wires that go into the machine itself and eventually come out of the old phono cable? Or can I just leave them there, since the new wires would just go out into a new location?

And finally, does anyone know of a more detailed set of instructions/pictures for Yamaha PX-2 mods?

Thanks,

Vlad
 

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Hello VLAD

Welcome on AK !

I will not recommend you do do such "upgrades" on your turntable !!

I have 2 PX2 and none of them need to be "drasticly modified" like that .

I have produced my own kit who avoid any slip of the flat belt . :thmbsp:

Regarding the phono wire (inside the tonearm tube ) I will recommend you to use silver wire

Nothing else .

The platter is like a bell and ring a long time if you knock on it ...So you can use another kind of platter cover
Pure cooper will not bring anything more except to change your platter in a "non resonnance" platter like any no resonnance material can do !
 
Hey Clinic,

Thanks for the reply and warm welcome!

You do not recommend upgrades, but tonearm rewire is okay? Do you mean just swapping the wire inside the tonearm, but not changing anything, not running the wire out of the arm and into a junction box? Just to attach it the same way it already is, and continue using the native phono cable?

To be honest, I don't really want any mods other than the tonearm rewire, and maybe an upgrade for the feet one day (although I think the feet that come with it are pretty damn good!). Maybe a power chord upgrade one day as well, but I'm not thinking about that right now (although if someone has experience or thoughts on power chord mods, please share). I think if I rewire the tonearm, I *would* like to run the cable outside of the arm and into a junction box so that I can experiment with different cables, and also to make the signal path shorter (the native phono cable is a bit long).

What I'm really wondering is whether it's possible to rewire the arm without taking anything apart, without flipping the thing upside down. I understand I will have to take some of the arm apart, but I'd rather not open up the table itself, or remove the whole arm assembly from the table if I don't have to.

Thanks
 
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We recently compared my unmodified PX-3 with my modded SL-1210 (external PS, Cardas wire, fluid damper, Sound Dead Steel+Achromat et cetera). The PX-3 was the clear winner so that I decided not to modify anything except maybe a tonearm rewire, but I'm not sure if it will improve anything.
 
Vlad

You do not recommend upgrades, no I don't . It depend of what do you mean by upgrade...In my point of view I do upgrade only if it change with big difference the specifications of an original unit .
but tonearm rewire is okay? YES ! because it is easy to listen the difference !

Do you mean just swapping the wire inside the tonearm, but not changing anything, not running the wire out of the arm and into a junction box?

yes I mean by replacing the original wire by a silver one . Running the wire out the tone arm is not really serious and I don't talk about the look !
Just to attach it the same way it already is, and continue using the native phono cable? yes ! do you know why ? The native cable is NOT and ordinary cable ! his capacitance is dedicated to phono use (not microphonic ) and many user think that if they use "very expensive output cable " the sound will be better . This is stupid !

The post of Dr Ear is clear and say the same point of view as me .

but I'd rather not open up the table itself, or remove the whole arm assembly from the table if I don't have to. You will have to delete the whole arm ass"y to change the wire inside the tone arm tube ..Sorry , no other way .

Please don't do the things we saw in your pictures or the value of your PX2 will be drasticly decreasing ....

If you want to upgrade your turntable I can post you pictures about my upgrade who do really bring improvements !

I work on YAMAHA old products since 30 years ....
 
Do NOT rewire tonearm. If you want to add interconnect plate - this is OK. But wire inside tonearm is good enough. It is even less important if you use low output MC cartridge. Find something else to apply money and effort - like better legs for that table.

And clinic-audio is right - if table was modified (not repeired, but altered) its value drops down.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, guys.

Great info, Dr Ear. Thanks! This is exactly the type of information I was looking for.

Clinic, those pictures would be great. Thanks!
 
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pfcs49,

Do you mean I'd hate myself if I mess it up, or just regret making the mods even if they are successful?

Also, how do you find the sound of the B&0 8002 with The Voice compares to your PX-2 setup? I actually considered a Beogram 8000 before I ended up settling on the PX-2. B&O stuff is really gorgeous! Looks like you've got a lot of really nice gear!
 
pfcs49,

Do you mean I'd hate myself if I mess it up, or just regret making the mods even if they are successful?

Also, how do you find the sound of the B&0 8002 with The Voice compares to your PX-2 setup? I actually considered a Beogram 8000 before I ended up settling on the PX-2. B&O stuff is really gorgeous! Looks like you've got a lot of really nice gear!

Welcome to AK Vlad!

Nice machine..keep it close to original if possible. I would use all advice I could get from folks like Clinic-Audio :yes:


BTW, nice avatar... any actual connection to the Carpathian region?
 
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Welcome to AK Vlad!

Nice machine..keep it close to original if possible. I would use all advice I could get from folks like Clinic-Audio :yes:


BTW, nice avatar... any actual connection to the Carpathian region?

Thanks for the welcome! No connection to the Carpathian region, I'm just a dirty Russian!

After reading all the advice here, I think I will indeed keep it as close to the original as possible. I think I will try swapping out the head shell leads soon, maybe swapping out the tonearm wire like clinic-audio suggested, and after that I'll think about replacing the feet.

To be honest, though, I'd really like to start spending some money on actual music. I have bought so many things the past 5 weeks that all my money has gone to equipment - the turntable, a phono stage, a vacuum RCM, a cartridge upgrade, RME Hammerfall sound card, and yesterday I ordered some anti-static sleeves and the interconnects I will need to connect the phono stage to my RME ADI 2 so I can finally start making awesome quality vinyl rips. I have pretty much everything I need, for now. So instead of spending my entire paycheck on equipment, as I've been doing lately, I'd like to spend a month or two spending my paychecks on big batches of records. After that, I'll think about spending some money on a couple more upgrades and maybe buying some more equipment. Interested in a good value tube amp, maybe a Yaqin EL34.

I don't want to be one of those audiophiles who has the upgrade bug so bad that they spend all their time worrying about having the best sound and spend all their money on upgrades and never get around to actually enjoying the music.

Someone above mentioned that if you are using low output MC, that the tonearm wire doesn't really matter. Why is that?
 
There are two problems with wires and MM cartridge.

First capacitance of wires plus input capacitance of preamp can be too high to cause resonance with inductance of partridge. As a result it causes bump in response somewhere between 10 and 20 kHz. It manifests in higher surface noise and some sibilants.
Second is that high impedance of preamp makes it more sensitive to piezoelectric properties of cable, and thus additional noise dependent on cable vibrations. It is easy to demonstrate it - just nock phono cable with fingernail - you will hear bump sound in speakers.

In low output MC cartridge inductance is very low, so resonance is way up in ultrasonic frequencies. Phono preamp has very low input impedance too, and thus it shunts cable with it effectively eliminating any dielectric related effects in cable.

But because of low output of cartridge main problems are hum picked up by cartridge and wires, and internal noise of preamp itself. Tonearm wires being short and isolated inside metal tube do not have much influence on sound quality here.
 
I have both a PX-3 and a PX-2. Both in mint and top operating condition. The only thing I recommend, due to the age of the unit's, is a recap. It's not hard and it's not expensive and will help ensure continued trouble free operation. Also freshen up the thermal paste on the transistors so they stay a bit more on the cooler side. The tiny motor belts can be had on Ebay for around 11 dollars so buy some of those to have on hand. The PX-2 is a great turntable and the PX-3 isn't very far off in sound quality at all.
 
I have both a PX-3 and a PX-2. Both in mint and top operating condition. The only thing I recommend, due to the age of the unit's, is a recap. It's not hard and it's not expensive and will help ensure continued trouble free operation. Also freshen up the thermal paste on the transistors so they stay a bit more on the cooler side. The tiny motor belts can be had on Ebay for around 11 dollars so buy some of those to have on hand. The PX-2 is a great turntable and the PX-3 isn't very far off in sound quality at all.

100% agree with recap. Did it with both my PX-2 and PX-3. In the PX-2 one 0.47µF cap was completely defective (no value), one of the three 1000µF caps was leaking, the other two were bulged. Interestingly, all other caps showed a higher capacitance than specified, some clearly above 20%. There were 5 broken solder joints, too, all at the voltage regulators.
 
The guy I bought this from just had this serviced less than a year before selling it to me, but I'm not sure whether he had the caps replaced and the solder joints redone. But considering the fact that he said the servicing cost him $400, I'd wager that stuff is okay. I haven't looked inside though.

This is all great information to have. Thanks!

I like this table enough that I might even keep an eye out for another one, maybe even a non-functioning unit, so that I can open it up, do some work on it, learn how it all works. That way I would either have a second unit if I can fix it, or just keep it as an organ donor unit.

I'm just afraid to open up mine because it's my only turntable right now and I don't want to get brave with taking it apart.
 
pfcs49,

Do you mean I'd hate myself if I mess it up, or just regret making the mods even if they are successful?

Also, how do you find the sound of the B&0 8002 with The Voice compares to your PX-2 setup? I actually considered a Beogram 8000 before I ended up settling on the PX-2. B&O stuff is really gorgeous! Looks like you've got a lot of really nice gear!


You'd probably hate yourself for ruining something or at least marring or scratching it. What you propose requires a good deal of practical experience/judgement, skill, and facilities (tools). I rate myself highly in those areas but wouldn't attempt replacing the tonearm wiring unless it needed it.........
Because...you won't hear a difference. (unless, maybe, you want to)

The 8002/Voice combo? It is my "go to" table. The two decks sit on either side of the preamp and are equally convenient, but the B&O gets most of the business.
Probably because it's more ergonomical, even the dustcover operation.
The cartridge may give it the edge, however, after getting the Voice I have said that it sounds very close to my MMC1 & MMC2s! Perhaps I just don't have the ears and DNA of an audiophile! I can't hear the effects of tonearm re-wires or "better" than competent cables. I have, however, heard some pretty horrendous expensive systems that looked like posters for the high end club, cable elevators et al, and can say that either of these table combos can hold it's head high in spite of their "pedestrian" status among the snooties. :)
 
But considering the fact that he said the servicing cost him $400, I'd wager that stuff is okay. I haven't looked inside though.
My seller had stated, too, that "it was serviced before shipping". I did not see anything serviced. The tonearm mechanics was dirty and the flat belt slipped randomly, the small belt was worn out, the solder connections of 3 transistors were broken and one cap was dead.
It is very likely that the legs of the 3 voltage regulators will come loose soon if not resoldered. I would recommend at least to check these transistors (the big ones under the copper heatsink in the front of the main pcb).
Dealers won't invest too much time in servicing because people aren't willing to pay for this simply because they do not understand.
 
My seller had stated, too, that "it was serviced before shipping". I did not see anything serviced. The tonearm mechanics was dirty and the flat belt slipped randomly, the small belt was worn out, the solder connections of 3 transistors were broken and one cap was dead.
It is very likely that the legs of the 3 voltage regulators will come loose soon if not resoldered. I would recommend at least to check these transistors (the big ones under the copper heatsink in the front of the main pcb).
Dealers won't invest too much time in servicing because people aren't willing to pay for this simply because they do not understand.

Thanks, I'll definitely confirm sometime soon. I've just been too busy enjoying the music to take it apart and look inside. I'm just wagering that it's okay, not assuming for sure. I haven't been in a hurry to check inside just because the seller has a great reputation, and everything seems to be working very well with the table. The sensors work great, the arm movement is very fluid, belt tension seems to be perfect, and I haven't had any problems with the operation.

The only thing is, he said that the auto-stop feature is disabled because for some reason it affects the playback of 180g discs - for some reason the auto-stop feature gets triggered in the middle of an LP with thicker discs. It seems weird. He said the feature works and it can be enabled no problem, but it's more of a hassle than it's worth. Is that a known thing? Has anyone heard of something like that before?
 
I am recapping my PX2 right now. I can tell you 4 out of the first 5 caps are WAY out of spec. Glad I'm doing this finally.
 
One more thing. I play 180g and 200g discs all the time on mine and the auto-stop feature has no issues. Something is going on for sure. Like yours my PX2 looked and functions like new but the caps are most definitely needing attention as well as some re soldering of some IC's and a freshening up of the thermal past on 3 of them that rest on the frame with the copper heat sink.
 
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