Mitsubishi LT-30 Cardas Rewire

[bimasta]

Hard to believe it's been 8 years. Yes I still have them.

@Aerobat the Archivist! Thanks!

As I recall — but it was years ago — my LT-22 has about 5 solder-breaks between armbase and output cables. Reducing those will help a lot, especially as I usually use an LOMC with a mere whisper of a signal: 0.2mV — how many µV get lost on the way? Eliminating those breaks completely would be even better — but that leaves the question of the Muting Relay. I could live without it, as my Preamp and its Volume control are right there.

I think replacing 5 lengths of wire+solder+PCB-tracks with 1 or 2 direct wire-runs will have far more benefits than substituting Cardas or some other "Super Wire".

PS — Did you take any "After" pics?

 

[Aerobat]

After is the second pic, the wire is coiled to let the arm move along its tracks. I left the muting switch in place.

 

[Pio1980]

I posted something on this in the long LT-30 thread. Additionally, I had to replace the otherwise excellent but pinched internal arm wiring and used the Cardas, which was stiffer than the stock wire, also pix in the thread

 

[cabs]

Please keep us posted.

well, i did the deed. my heart was racing a bit last night, i kept thinking "what have i done" when i had removed the tonearm carriage from the beam. i' bought mine a year ago for well into the upper end of going rates. (~650 usd) i didn't realize you had to go that deep into it to get to the tonearm wire board - i thought it was accessible from the bottom! i've taken lots of stuff apart before but this was pretty imposing, mechanically.

https://imgur.com/gallery/vCfzZXM

anyway, basically did the same thing as Aerobat; braided about a foot of kab superflex (which turned into about 8" give or take) and left enough slack for it to hang beneath. i'm listening to it right now, definitely did the trick - all the highs are there now. i'll post some vinyl rip samples before/after if anyone's interested.

edit: it doesn't seem to want to auto return now at the end of the record, just sits in the lead out groove right at the label. i'm guessing that there's an adjustment for that but not sure which screw or if it's accessible from the outside.

 

[bimasta]

well, i did the deed. my heart was racing a bit last night, i kept thinking "what have i done"
edit: it doesn't seem to want to auto return now at the end of the record, just sits in the lead out groove right at the label. i'm guessing that there's an adjustment for that but not sure which screw or if it's accessible from the outside.

Bravo! Medal of Valor for Courage in Combat. I have the LT-22, a step down but still wonderful. I've wanted to rewire but haven't yet. I won't even try the armtube, but the lead-out wires have so many breaks, I'm sure a single run will make a big difference. I'll even bypass the Mute Relay, if it's in the signal path.

As for the auto return — could be a bad bulb. They should all be replaced while you're in there — even if they work, they won't for long — and it's tough to repeat all the work just to gain access. Best of luck, you earned it.

And if you think of it, report back on the auto return. It inspires us lazy buggers.

 

[cabs]

thanks! i might go ahead and order the full set of bulbs now for when it starts to have problems.

tweaking the tracking angle did it - the tonearm carriage wasn't quite hitting the trigger for end of record. i don't have the alignment grid that came with it so i was just doing my best to eyeball things, but it still seems to be just about right.