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Can anyone help with this rare tonearm cable?

J

Junknewbian

Well-Known Member
I have an old wooden tonearm - ADC Pritchard Model 40. Here are pictures of the turntable and the cable, and as you can see, female to female will not work in this setting.

I have found this cable on ebay, but I was hoping to find a less costly option, as I am just testing this turntable to see if I can get it up and running.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cardas-Bel...-pin-Male-DIN-to-WireWorld-RCAs-/361002860391

Any suggestions will be kindly appreciated.

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Is that lower connector attached to a cable with RCA ends? Are the holes spaced exactly as the bottom of the tonearm? It's probably just the photo but it looks larger.

Anyway, if it's just to test, you could just cut some short pieces of solid wire and make male to male jumpers for a temporary test. Choose a gauge of wire that has a reasonably firm fit and make them just long enough, like about 1/2", to allow the cable to butt up to the arm base.
 
Montycat said:
Is that lower connector attached to a cable with RCA ends? Are the holes spaced exactly as the bottom of the tonearm? It's probably just the photo but it looks larger.

Anyway, if it's just to test, you could just cut some short pieces of solid wire and make male to male jumpers for a temporary test. Choose a gauge of wire that has a reasonably firm fit and make them just long enough, like about 1/2", to allow the cable to butt up to the arm base.
Click to expand...

This is the genius reply I was hoping for! Thank you Montycat, and thanks to AudioKarma, the smartest collection of audio minds on the planet! I will see if I can make it work in the morning and post again.
 
In fact, if the fit is good and secure, there is no reason why this wouldn't work permanently. It introduces one more set of contacts than normal but assuming good electrical and physical contact it should be fine.
 
...or, if it works, you can get one of these for $10:

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Yes, exactly. But that doesn't look quite like the right spacing. The gap looks larger.
 
Hi tnsilver, that connector will not work (although a male-to-male connector is what I would love to find) - the spacing is wrong and there is no detent on this tonearm cable. I think that might be for a stereo microphone cable or a recorder with a wired remote control. Thanks for adding to the search for a solution, though!
 
yup. those vintage DIN plugs are tricky. Different sizes (i.e. 'mini-din'), different configurations and # of pins and they're cumbersome, stiff and too long. That's why, if it was me, I'd just get rid of the old DIN termination at the end of the tonearm and solder in new RCA plugs, or better yet, just run an RCA cable all the way through from tonearm to pre-amp. Of course, it requires a bit of delicate soldering, but well worth the effort IMO. Food for thought... :idea:
 
OK, I found some wire at the ReStore that fits perfectly, see pics - it is 18 gauge solid copper. It is labelled "7/18 irrigation cable for direct burial". So although I only needed a few inches of it, I bought a half-used 500 foot spool of it for $5 at the ReStore. They wouldn't sell me any less, but for $5, who can complain!

I have cut my pieces and I am going to try to hook it up. Let me know if you have concerns or suggestions as I go. I will add more pics as I go. Thanks again everyone.

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That looks like it would work. I was thinking of just bare wire though in a total length of just the length you have stripped at each end. If you did it that way you would not need any insulated part or see any wire once the cable was "installed". If they insert firmly at each end it will all hold together too and even look quite clean.
 
tnsilver said:
DIN plugs are tricky. Different sizes
Click to expand...

Yup DINs are different and it would be nice to know all the different sizes and if seller would post them.

I have this nice one that I got with a bunch of Kimber Kables and it looks like the size the OP needs.

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That looks like a Grace tonearm type. It might work but I think he wants to test first with minimal risk or investment.
 
I have a Decca International which has the same pin arrangement (but also with a screw on retaining ring) . The japanese tonearm plug has thinner pins and not in the right location. I came across an old plug in a german console that fits mine, though the retaining ring will not make an appearance. I think McMaster may have the correct plug (if memory serves it's a five pin 270 degree DIN plug). The spacing is annoying since it means only the correct plug will work. Of course that was exactly what the DIN specs were meant to assure...
 
Yes, there are 180° and 270° 5 pin DIN connectors.

I was given a 180° 5-pin DIN cable I haven't found a use for yet but wait there's more.

This thread got me to look into this. Since I have had the cable for a couple weeks opened it to work on it (needs a resolder on one of the leads), I hadn't worried about a use. Now with looking around, this cable fits the Tandberg receiver I have so I can make a phono cable for it.
 
So I am going to try it, as suggested, with no insulated wire, just straight plug-to-plug. However, also as suspected by the same astute AK'er, the holes in the cable are larger than the holes in the tonearm. So I am going to try putting some copper threads from a speaker wire into the holes on the cable, prior to fitting in the solid copper pieces. Should be good enough to test the turntable, tonearm and cartridge. I also agree with the suggestion to get a custom-made cable, to go from the plug straight to RCA plugs. Or, if I found an trusty tech, wire straight from the headshell leads.to RCA plugs.
 
Junknewbian said:
Yes, that looks like exactly what I need. PM me.
Click to expand...
I posted that as a discussion piece, it's for a Grace arm and not what you need. Also there is no buying or selling on the open forum and you would have to be a subscriber to use barter town.
 
Hi again, in the last couple weeks, I tried to connect the tonearm to the RCA cable with short, straight copper, and with short cable, as planned, but it was impossible for me to get all five wires to connect with the short leads. So I tried longer wires. I was able to connect everything, but then I hit another snag. The stiffness of the solid copper affected the free swing of the tonearm in this old-school set-up - it should just move within the socket. So it skipped and skipped, I tried heavier tonearm weight, but it seems clear that the stiff wires are impeding the rotation of the tonearm. I was able to hear music from the old beauty, but it skipped more frequently even than the usual 33.3 rpm that we could be used to. The stiff wires are one problem which can be fixed by purchasing the correct cable, instead of trying to make my own. Another issue is the sound of the idler wheel. As noted in an earlier thread, there is a noise when the idler wheel engages the turntable. I think the bearings are shot, but I have read that the solution is a new idler wheel. Video of this issue will be posted soon.
 

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Any tonearm above the crudest level that is working properly should not require the tonearm cable to rotate. It may be that the tension of the stiff wires needed to stick into the plugs torques the arm plug so that it twists the very fine arm wires enough to impeded the arm, but try bending the stiff wires so that they don't put any tension on the plug. I suspect there will be no change, because I don't think that is the problem.
Have you checked the antiskating mechanism? The Pritchard arm's mechanism is below the arm, and might not be noticed. And check the cuing platform to make sure that it isn't bent or stuck and contacting the arm during play.
Also: what cartridge is in the arm, and is it in good shape, and being used at an appropriate tracking force?
That is very nice, drool worthy equipment, and it should be gotten up and running beautifully.
 
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