Technics SL-1200 MK2 tonearm rewire mod

[dogpile]

Stock vs. rewire

Sonically, the stock tone arm wiring is good with no major weaknesses. It performs well but does not "draw" you into the music and lacks emotion??
The Discovery rewire (or any other quality tone arm wire) does and will sound better... much better than the stock Technics wire.


The newly wired Discovery (no break-in period) sounded phenomenal. Compared to stock, my first impression with the Discovery was
a veil has been lifted and an extra layer of music appeared... it suddenly sounded different like it was a completely new recording.
I knew improvements were in order but had no idea to what degree... just awesome!

The music became more musical with improvements across the board... the differences were not subtle.
Bass tightened up, the soundstage opened and instruments/vocals became more focused.

With the addition of the new ground wire (which was attached to the shielding of the new cable), hum was minimized with
less treble fuzziness, perhaps due to the non-shielded stock Technics cable.


Although the $108 for wiring is not cheap, this is one mod that will truly make a difference with your 1200 or any other table for that matter

 

[pauze]

I am planning to do my own rewire on my Technics arm as well, and from what I've read/researched 33awg was the way to go, but the Discovery wire you used is 28awg. I imagine that 28awg is still pretty flexible, but can you notice any change in the tonearm movement due to the thicker gauge?

 

[beatcomber]

Thanks, Dogpile!

 

[dogpile]

I am planning to do my own rewire on my Technics arm as well, and from what I've read/researched 33awg was the way to go, but the Discovery wire you used is 28awg. I imagine that 28awg is still pretty flexible, but can you notice any change in the tonearm movement due to the thicker gauge?

The Cardas 33 awg is very popular and highly recommended. With the 28 awg Discovery wire, there were no horizontal forces at play...
I made sure of that by feeding the wire into arm tube loosely. Also, the 65 fine strands makes it quite flexible.

Good luck with your rewire :tresbon:

 

[huntingskeet]

Nice job Dogpile. I opted to ship my SL-1200 off to KAB and had Kevin do the Cardas rewire and am quite pleased with the result, as I am sure you are as well. I wish I had the time and patience to do job myself, however KAB was still quite reasonable, and Kevin even went over the turntable itself - made a few adjustments, added damping fluid to the cuing lift, included a new grounding wire and even threw in a new anti-vibration plug that goes in the threaded accessory weight portion on rear of tonearm.

 

[dogpile]

I really like that. I rewired mine a year or so ago, with Cardas 0,33ga.
Redid the ground at the same time. I was continuous until the headshell,:scratch2: hmmm, maybe I'm goin back in.

What headshell are you using now? I'm not sure if the stock Technics headshell will work for this mod since I didn't drill into it.
The 11g Jelco HS-20 ($49.00), Sumiko HS12 and LP Gear Zupreme are recommended since they all feature adjustable azimuth

 

[Pironi]

Now that is what I call a profesional work...
After reading your post I bought 6ft of Van den Hul MSS-7 to do the rewire.
It all sounded easy but, ok it is not that easy after all.

Can you please explain the shiellding and grounding in more detail? I do not know much about electronic shielding and grounding so any aditional info yould be much appresiated.

A friend of mine told me to apply the grounding to the shield and that there is no reason to put an extra wire but I think it could interfere with the signal.. Is that correct?

Also should there be 2 seperate groundings, one fore each channel or this is too much?

I would also like to know where could I find some cotton tubing like the one that you used...

Thank you very much for the info's up to now
Super job done!

 

[dogpile]

Pironi. Assuming that you have the 1200 tt, the rewire is quite simple. All that you require is a good understanding of wire direction and contact points (refer to the attached pics).

The shielding of the ic cable should be connected to a ground wire and then to the pre/phono pre ground lug. You could use two separate ground wires but only one is required.

When constructing the ic cable using shielding, DO NOT let the shield touch the -/+ leads as the shield should be floating.

My ground wire hookup method:
- existing tonearm ground wire connects to green circuit board
- existing chassis ground wire connects to green circuit board
- a short length of wire which is soldered to the cables shielding attaches to the green circuit board.

This connection was successful with very little to no hum or grounding issues. There are different ways for tt ground wire hookup but I chose to do it this way.

I purchased the cotton tubing from Parts Connexion (click below...)
http://www.partsconnexion.com/heatshrink_tubing_cotton.html


Good luck with the rewire

 

[Pironi]

What headshell are you using now? I'm not sure if the stock Technics headshell will work for this mod since I didn't drill into it.
The 11g Jelco HS-20 ($49.00), Sumiko HS12 and LP Gear Zupreme are recommended since they all feature adjustable azimuth

Since I drilled the original you have to take care when drilling the headshell part not to drill on the locking pin. It has to be pulled out and then re inserted. I cuted some from the top as well.

Thanx For the info dogpile!
I'm ordering the cotton tube so it is a pause for now...

 

[beatcomber]

Sonically, the stock tone arm wiring is good with no major weaknesses. It performs well but does not "draw" you into the music and lacks emotion??
The Discovery rewire (or any other quality tone arm wire) does and will sound better... much better than the stock Technics wire.


The newly wired Discovery (no break-in period) sounded phenomenal. Compared to stock, my first impression with the Discovery was
a veil has been lifted and an extra layer of music appeared... it suddenly sounded different like it was a completely new recording.
I knew improvements were in order but had no idea to what degree... just awesome!

The music became more musical with improvements across the board... the differences were not subtle.
Bass tightened up, the soundstage opened and instruments/vocals became more focused.

With the addition of the new ground wire (which was attached to the shielding of the new cable), hum was minimized with
less treble fuzziness, perhaps due to the non-shielded stock Technics cable.


Although the $108 for wiring is not cheap, this is one mod that will truly make a difference with your 1200 or any other table for that matter

I'm reviving this thread...

I just ordered some Cardas tonearm wire, M5G interconnects, and a turret board from KAB, and our good friend thedelihaus has kindly agreed to help me upgrade my SL-1200MK2 once the stuff arrives. I already have the KAB tonearm stub insert and I have added shrink tubing on the arm as well, and thedelihaus will be further damping the arm wand internally.

Last night I was comparing the sound of my Linn Axis to my SL-1200MK2, and was frankly somewhat surprised by how much more open the Linn sounded. The 1200 by comparison was much more one-dimensional and flat.

Keeping in mind that the two tables were using different cartridges (the Linn has a Sumiko Talisman Alchemist HOMC rebuilt by Soundsmith, and the 1200 has a Denon DL-160 HOMC), I still believe that much of the difference in performance is attributable to the better wiring of the Linn. I have used the same DL-160 on the Linn before, and remember it sounding very open on that table.

Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to hearing how much more elevated the SL-1200MK2 will be once it receives this new round of upgrades! I'm planning to do some sample recordings of the SL-1200 in its present state, and then comparing that to the updated version.

 

[thedelihaus]

...Last night I was comparing the sound of my Linn Axis to my SL-1200MK2, and was frankly somewhat surprised by how much more open the Linn sounded. The 1200 by comparison was much more one-dimensional and flat.

Keeping in mind that the two tables were using different cartridges (the Linn has a Sumiko Talisman Alchemist HOMC rebuilt by Soundsmith, and the 1200 has a Denon DL-160 HOMC), I still believe that much of the difference in performance is attributable to the better wiring of the Linn. I have used the same DL-160 on the Linn before, and remember it sounding very open on that table....

I very much look forward to your final results.

I do know a fully modded arm I did for Mark Walters compared favorably against a fully modded Sumiko FT-3 I also did for him- he felt they were slightly different, but equally as good.

He was not fond of the stock arm's sound and felt the modified arm was an easily notable step above.

The Sumiko MMT in stock form was a better arm than the stock Technics arm, he felt, but not as good as the modified technics arm.

The Technics SL-1200MK2 replaced his Music Hall MMF 5.1 and a highly customized Pioneer PL-41.


The Linn has a lot going for it so this should make for an interesting comparo.

I do implore you however to run the same cart on both arms for a fair assessment.

 

[beatcomber]

VERY exciting, Paul!

The Linn has a lot going for it so this should make for an interesting comparo.

I do implore you however to run the same cart on both arms for a fair assessment.

I have made some needledrop dubs with the Denon DL-160 on the Linn Axis, so I will absolutely be able to directly compare it to the hot rodded 1200, with the same cart & preamp. This will be fun!

 

[dogpile]

I'm very much looking forward to hearing how much more elevated the SL-1200MK2 will be once it receives this new round of upgrades! I'm planning to do some sample recordings of the SL-1200 in its present state, and then comparing that to the updated version.

Keep us updated on your progress and do provide some pics :worthless

 

[HenryLetter]

Yes please post updates

 

[jleon92f]

Great Job. Very nice work..

Thanks,
John.

 

[dimkasta]

Thanks a lot for an excellent thread guys. It has been very helpful for me.

Even 6 months later, I think I can contribute something and save others from the same trouble I have gone through.

Do not try to drill through the stock headshell. The locking pin goes throughout the cylinder and will block your drill. Forcing the drill will only destroy the pin and the locking mechanism.

Instead, you can do what I did and try to pull the metal pins from the plastic. This was not possible on the old headshell (~1990) because the pins were not "cylindrical" and could not be pulled.
However the latest stock headshell replacement (~15euros here in Greece) comes with nice and shinny pins that can be pulled with a pair of pliers leaving 4 nice holes on the plastic.
The same goes for the plastic on the arm side.

The only drawback in this approach is that you will have to solder the cartridge pins after you have pulled the wire through the arm and base and you will not be able to remove it without cutting or unsoldering the pins (holes are too small to pull the pins through them).

I just received the cardas wire but I am at work now... I can t wait to get home and put everything back together and check how it sounds

I promise I will post some photos once I finish it.

 

[thedelihaus]

For note, even though converting the headshell to "fixed" may yield the best sound results, it completely hinders easy, quick headshell changes.

when I rewire arms for people, I always advise against this- I think the benefits of having a quickly removable headshell is a benefit, and "fixing" the headshell may be a trade-off for mildly improved performance/sound, but you better like the cartridge you're running.

 

[Jeff K]

I was just wondering if anyone has tried replacing the rubber washer with an aluminum one (or some other metal) and if there were any audible changes/advantages.

 

[thedelihaus]

VERY exciting, Paul!



I have made some needledrop dubs with the Denon DL-160 on the Linn Axis, so I will absolutely be able to directly compare it to the hot rodded 1200, with the same cart & preamp. This will be fun!

Hopefully Glen will post an update, but I can tell you this- I personally modded his arm (but kept the headshell collet stock/as-is) with upgraded internal wire, bypassed circuit board, M5G cables, and internal (cotton batting) and external (shrink tube) arm tube damping, and additional shielding.

He says, to his ears, it was a very noticeable improvement.

He also sold the Linn Axis shortly after.

 

[dimkasta]

Today I made a friend sell his 3k TT

I can t believe what the mk2 has to give...

My prrrrrrecious....