The best lead wires for your cartridge
![ANA[DIA]LOG](http://yt3.ggpht.com/50CpmGNilS8aoMlarZVhI_GxRDoZdbj4ZgwCMZXg-Rq2PrEvCytlE6RVyLUrNY-rwE_sAlZ1Zw=s48-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj)
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- Опубліковано 22 лис 2018
- In this video we discover a few of the best leads to connect your turntable cartridge to your headshell or tonearm
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Music: bensound.com
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THE BEST LEADS:
Oyaide HSR-AG (5n silver):
(US): amzn.to/2TwtQgG
(UK): amzn.to/2R0DE0R
(IT): NA
Furutech La Source 101 (siver, rhodium)
www.furutech.com/2013/02/02/1635/
(UK): amzn.to/2OSJSO8
Audio-Technica AT6101(OCC copper):
(US): amzn.to/2DNEjiS
(UK): amzn.to/2A715yh
(IT): amzn.to/2A5mOGC
Furutech La Source 103 (OCC copper):
(US): amzn.to/2qTro6z
(UK): amzn.to/2A1sMrW
(IT) NA
The importance of the signal path adds up, and every part going from the stylus to your phono pre makes a difference, so this video is perfect. I personally like the Jelco litz lead wires, but your list is absolutely excellent. Thank you. I’ve also got those AT OCC wires on another one of my carts too.
I bought a new Music Hall MMF-9.3 which had very poor wiring harness right out of the box. One of the ground wires was "faulty" which let the cart pick up a local radio station. After about a year and changing the cart I lost one channel alltogether. The wires were the tiniest I had seen in a tone arm. I am having the cable replaced with a hi quality. If you have decent speakers it is easy to tell the difference with cables. Very timely video for me.
And that's the point people who don't believe in cables don't get! If you don't have good speaker's or other components, your not going to hear the difference! Great comment, rich!
While I personally agree that having properly insulated cables and/or well made ones can indeed make the sound better and reduce noise levels, it only works up to the point where the best cable ends which is where you to have to spend more money.
My turntable is a refurbished Pioneer unit from 1981 which at that time had specs similar to what you'd find on £400-£600 turntables now but only cost me £180, and since all the caps were replaced and the unit given a full service it still runs as good as that or better now.
The thing is though the wires going from it to my preamp are quite thin and while they do have a ground wire they can probably pick up interference from other electronics I have nearby. While it is a good idea to have good quality cables, you have to have this from the cartridge though every signal transfer point to the speakers or recording equipment.
This means realistically if you don't have good cables all the way through doing this isn't going to change a whole lot because the bottle neck of lower quality cables is just somewhere further down the line, which is more than likely the reason some people think high end cables don't work.
I agree!!
OK, so I did this today. I upgraded the cartridge wires on my Denon DP47F turntable and Denon DL-103R MC cartridge. I used the Oyaide HSR-102 wires. I played one specific album before I made the change and the same album afterward. I noticed a definite sonic improvement in playback. I'll tell you one thing though; I wouldn't want to go through the process again. Too much pressure and you can bend or break the pins on the inside of the headsell. It is an extremely small and tight working area. But I am happy to have taken advantage of all that insulation on the wire ends. Thank you for the tip.
Thanks for your feedback!
I use a high end Ortofon lead wires and I love them, and YES there is a significant difference in the sound reproduction in comparison to the cheap wires that come with the turntable! With the Ortofon leads and my Nagaoka MP-150 cartridge, my records sound AMAZING!
My turntable is a Denon DP-55M and the cartridge is a Denon DL-109D and I decided to upgrade my leads when I replaced the stylus on my cartridge. I didn’t go with best but it was up there in high quality, especially considering there replacing the oem original leads. Anyway I did noticed a difference but i wouldn’t consider it a significant difference in sound. Did you notice a significant improvement in sound quality when you upgraded your head shell as well?
I'll take in account the advice of this video , when I get a better turntable! The one I have now has a "permanent mount" cartridge! The only thing I can change on mine is the "stylus" and the "pre-amp"! But I am in the market for a better one, and this video will help! Thanks for uploading it!
Thank you George!
thanks for the video. i snapped one of the cables on my shure m44-7s. i didnt know what to replace it with. i think i will try audio technicas. thank you for taking the time to give a brief comparison
Thank YOU!
Another tip: twist both the L+/- and R+/- channels into two twisted pairs.
This reduces the sensitivity to RFI and crosstalk.
My new 1200GR head shell has leads that are almost as stiff as buss wire. Made it a bit harder to hold the cartridge in place whike tightening the screw that hold the cart to the head shell.
Agree ANA[DIA]LOG, I try over 10 - 12 different brand or set under US80 best Oyaide 5N and Van den Hul ( but when reuse to other cartridge easy broken ( no solder?) :)
good advice. mine get broken last days, soi think ill get the ones of audio technica. cheap and good, what else could be better?;-)))
pro tips thank you sir
I always got a hum when recording my dj sets. Idk if its the stock rca cables or the generic headshell and cheap lead wires. I'm getting a better headshell and some silver lead wires since cheap and see if it makes a difference at all
I have a Thorens TD 280 but a Lynn cartdridge. Have no idea who's choose to switch this one. Any advice to choose a nice a good neadle meadle rage?
I just added some silver cables...and man what a difference! I hear things from my vinyl I've never heard before. This was with an AT-95.
I have the same AT leads actually i was looking to buy more but on Amazon but they are selling for $60 (USA) I paid $17, those a are really good leads.
This lead wire for the phono cartridge can also works with erase head and record/playback head for reel-to-reel tape recorders including the Sony models. I got my TC-105 and it works and the transport was stuck. So I worked on fixing it to get it working, and another problem is that the wire for the erase head got snapped off. I tried soldering the heads back together and no luck. So all I did was ordered a phono lead wires and maybe it might fit on the heads and should do the job.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing that 😀
The AT6101 set is impossible to beat for the price. They can be had for around $15 US shipped.
Exactly!
Interested, I was waiting for someone to do this video, I totally agree with you that good head shell leads makes a great difference, I have a problem in this area which I am hoping you can help me with. I have an SME 3009 series 2 improved arm on my turn table, the arm is wired with Cardas wiring and I am using Cardas RCA interconnects, I also want to use the same brand name head shell leads, I bought a set of their top of the line leads but had much difficulty fitting them to the Shure V15VXMR cartridge and ended up breaking the red wire, the wires fit very well to the head shell connections but I cannot get them to fit on the cartridge pins, so I had to settle for a lower grade Cardas set of leads, I sent an email to the Cardas company about my problem with the HSL PCC leads asking them why didn't they make the leads with the opening on one end of the leads larger to accommadate the cartridge pins, they never responded, I guess I am not important enough, do you have any suggestions to solve this problem, a number of people I know are having the same difficulty. Thanks.
Norman.
Hi Norman, well, first of all I would drop the myth of having all cables from the same manufacturer (especially when they have zero customer service) and I would focus on the quality. The best thing you can do is get pc-occ silver or copper leads. Same for the RCA cables. Again they don't have to be Cardas. If you have problems fitting a lead you must enlarge the diameter, if possible, usually with a toothpick or something similar. Good luck!
I really enjoy your videos and recently returning to the vinyl scene, I learn quite a lot about improving and refining my setup. Can I ,make one suggestion though? -- when displaying such a cartridge to focus on its wiring, would you approach the camera a little more slowly or hold the item at the camera a second longer?
Keep doing the great job you do.
You're right Steve, sorry about that. Thanks for your words and keep up the vinyl spinning!
Great video again! Iv'e stuck with the SME loose braided cartridge leads but have often thought about what a change would sound like . It looks like you have a Dynavector 20x or xx-2 there which is it? . I wonder what the Dynavector 6N cartridge leads are like, they cost around £35 .
I've had a 17D3 cartridge and currently a xx2 (my most expensive to date- don't think I will ever spend any more). Ado
Hi there, its a 20x2L. Direct leads don't have signal brake...that is already better than a headshell...
For my Linn lp12?I have akitto 3 b with Lyra delos.
Fascinating video. Would those Audio Technica wires be suitable for a VM670SP mono cartridge?
Sure, any cart that uses leads!
I have no luck connecting wires to a head shell, they are far too delicate for me and I end up breaking them, even when using tweezers, Any lead wires that are thicker and easier to fit that can fit a plx 1000 head shell?
I bought the Audio Technica AT6101 leads and couldn't get them onto my Audio Technica headshell. They fitted onto the cartridge fine, but not the headshell end, and I couldn't prise them apart to fit. Ended up destroying one.
I have a Dual 1229 turntable original cables. I know for sure cables make a huge difference absolutely. Please talk about dual wiring
Good idea
I have a denon DP55M turntable with a PCL-4 headshell and I’m currently using a set of cheap gold leads off eBay. I just got a new stylus for my Denon 109d moving magnet cartridge and I’m looking to replace the wires but I’m not sure what headshell lead wires I should go with. I listen to mostly reggae and rock/alternative music no classical or jazz Incase that matters. Should i stick with my gold leads or get those pure silver leads or copper leads? I have no clue!? I’m currently thinking of getting OFC copper fitz, what do you think? does it really matter what I go with? What do you suggest? Please and thank for any help
The ones I suggest are in OCC copper one of the best conductors available and they are cheap. Pure OCC silver is even better but much much more expensive. In the end IMHO I think that you should invest only in the end in leads...theybdo not affect that much sound quality in respect to the other components of your system...
The ends of the HSL PCC leads are easily breakable, if you try to open up too much they break, as I mentioned earlier, Cardas can solve this problem in making the leads one end a little wider, how do I send a picture to you? Thanks. ( love your videos)
Norman.
I saw them on-line. If they are that fragile (very strange) you've got one more reason to change.
Believe me the audio Technica made a huge huge difference ! This guys knows what his taking about. Thank you
Those look easy to put cuz I'm having problems putting those wire is crazy 4:32 they don't fit properly is really hard to put on I bought a technic head shelf the cable don't fit perfectly at all I use that tool you got too
I have destroyed several, take your time and gently try to enlarge the connectors if possible (that is open on one side) otherwise search for something larger because you may also break the pins
@@anadialog thank you so much Sir I got it I took my time it was my first time doing it n I be DJ since 89 but I always bought them already with the wire on I just hand to put it on the head shelf cartridge I got like a trick to it I destroyed one wired but I got to fix it n opened n tied it again little by little n it when in nice thank you but a person have to have patience with it it still hard 😁😂😂 thank you I like those wired you show on your video where can I buy them what a different the sound once i put new head shelf n the wires it my turntable sound better it was the classic Shure m44-7 cartridge for scratch DJ oh mix DJ it sound more louder than before thank you once again sir 🙏
What about wiring an old BSR tone arm will these do?
Well, these are bulky and stiff. I am not sure you would have enough space there...
Anyone got any hacks for running the leads down the tone arm and down the table??
I don't but that is a very good hack you are looking for. I once had a direct lead connection with a Clearaudio tonearm that was phenomenally good!
So is analog really better or is it the memories that come with analog that make it better? I would love to see a blind test when with today's youth and those who purchased music prior to digital/streaming music.
Hi Kenneth, It is, even if it yas its flaws it is just more engaging...and, in my opinion, more faithfull to real music...certain high res digital music is fantastic but it most cases, if i find it in a higu quality pressing or reel to reel tape its just much much more natural and pleasing. Digital has the potential to be better or equal but rarely used. Finally, any kind of music requires good gear to unlock the full potential!
The Kobra
Not better, just different.
Digital can be very good too
I've seen pictures showing the blue and green wires swinging one way from the cartridge and red and white going the other way. Is there any reason to separate the wire groups to avoid signal interference? Seems overly paranoid to me.
It's probably to jump grounding but I think they are doing that only for peculiar situations or old setups.
What about the stranded wires in the tone arm , its not a complete tune up is it
Most tonearme already have their wires inside. In that case just leave those. If you are hunting for higher quality you cound take them out and replsce them with dedicated leads...a bit difficult to do though...
@@anadialog
Yep its bad enough refitting the cartrage , these little wires are tooo flimsy & cramped .
Pain in the ass .
To your point (Analdialogue) about only using silver leads if your phono cable is silver.
- I disagree.
According to my experience, if you add a silver cable into the stew, it will change the sound signature.
I tried pure silver loudspeaker cables that I had demoed (ended up returning them) they really had a bright and clear presentation, almost anemic..
The thick OCC Van den hul sounded wooly dark and thick in comparison.
I ended up with silver-plated OCC Copper cables, that just landed me on the right side of neutral.
I use the top-shelf silver leads from Ortofon, and a non-silver phono cable Inakustik Referenz NF-202.
I tried all the lead wires, OCC, silver, every single one you showed in the video, and my system wanted the silver lead, it could handle it without overbrightening or thinning the sound.
If your system is on the bright side, you might not want silver leads 😉 always think about your system as a stew, is it on the bright or dark side? You need to season it with your spices (tweaks) to land it on neutral.
Cables should be the very last resort to mod frequency response and quality in general. If things are set up properly you shouldn't mix different metals, plus silver isn't cold, it is only when poorly designed or simply not pure as explained several times in my videos.
@@anadialog btw thanks for making quality content, love your channel!
As I'm sure you're aware, the cables measure flat in frequency response.
In fact the relative dark or bright sound signature that one might experience from different cables, is the product of time-domain differences - in other words, when does high frequencies arrive compared to low frequencies?
It has nothing to do with actual frequency response.
You say silver is not bright sounding? I have alot of faith in your thoughts and experiences, I can tell you're very well-versed and I'm not arrogant.
there exist a wide consensus, that silver sound brighter than copper. But that might be because most people have only experienced the cheaper lower-end silver cables?
I find that the top-end extension seems more open/extended on silver than it does on Copper, what is your thoughts?
I know the haters are going to come out! Let them. There will always be ignorant people in the world who don’t get things. On the subject, both products sound good, but let me say something here that may help. Square-ish connectors will not contact the surface of the pins as well as round ones will. Contact area is especially critical with moving coil cartridges because their output is so small. Another thing, twisting the ground wire around the signal wire for each pair will help shield noise out. This will shorten the pair length and you need to check that it is possible first. I haven’t had any problem doing this on any of the cartridges I have mounted. Your results may vary. There is another option to if you can find connectors that are the right size and use fine stranded silver plated copper wire. The reason I suggest using only rounded connectors is contact area to the pins is greater than that of the unrounded ones. If that is too hard for anyone to understand, you might try another channel with less mentally strenuous material.
I agree! But the material of the conductor for me comes before everything...
The rhodium plated silver ones would be my choice. The reduction in contact area will reduce the signal and the signal integrity. It isn’t rocket science. It’s just common sense. Granted, there isn’t much of that in most reviews because most people don’t install their own cartridges. Even fewer know that what I am saying about the contact area is actually important. It is and it is also important about the materials used in the product. But, as you know and the viewers may not know, details like contact area of the conductors on both sets of pins will affect the performance of the cartridge. The greater the surface contact of the connectors, the better the connection will be and so the performance of the cartridge will show. It’s the details and our attention to those details that matter in this hobby. Failure to address a problem will cause a system problem and high end customers, for the most part, have very little in a sense of humor about failure or problems due to tech failures or equipment failures. When you understand the customer’s expectations, you don’t have to make excuses or make trips out to their house because you did not care. This is not about criticizing anyone. This is something that needs to be addressed on the front to avoid problems further down the road. That’s all. No one has to agree with what I say. My experience is in high end retail and turntable manufacturing and testing. What do I know?
Learn some Ohm's law.
Hmm, something to try after upgrading my cartridge And preamp. I’m running a comparable turntable to yours (Thorens TD124 with Jelco SA-750DB arm), but with average preamp (Acoustic Signature Tango) And relatively cheap cartridge (Nagaoka MP-110). So the leads won’t make too much of a difference. And I don’t get it. Copper, silver And hybrid calbes all sound differently, So why shouldn’t the quality do too? Even if I really don’t always understand why things matter, they still can I think..
Very nice turntable, congrats! I am glad you look at these upgrades as positive tweeks and not snskeoil...
ana[dia]log I think it’s too simple to just call things snake oil. To my opinion, it simply means you don’t believe it will do anything, therefore it is snake oil. If you ask these people whether they ever tried it out, they usually go on about it being nonsense And they don’t need to try. Well, why not just try And listen. Who knows, you might be surprised (Or actually conclude you don’t hear any difference). I really didn’t believe power cables And powerstrips would make any difference as you suggested. So I Made one from 16A connectors And Nexans (Dutch made) pure copper cable for 380V. And it really did make a difference. Not just to me, we testes this with 3 people. So, I took a professional 10 prong powerstrip by Martin Kaiser, replacing the power cable with Nexans And the upgraded connector And again, improvement (yes, subjective obviously..). So tried doing the polarisation properly as you suggested, resulting in more lower end. So much so (And properly controlled), that I removed the Rel sub.. Next thing I’m going to try is making a set of interconnects.. I’m using Linn black now (which are fine). So Thanks for this channel. And from Italy as well, in stead of the UK Or UK as it usually is..
Erwin what a great comment, for tye snake oil part, I compkwtely agree, we are lacking experience in most cases, and I am very glad that starting (reasonably) from a skeptical point you actualky did hear improvement in the sound!
ANA[DIA]LOG can you make a video about in phase out phase in recording? I would like hear from you :)
Do you mean phase?
@@anadialog Yes, sorry wrong spell :)
@@anadialog Yes, sorry I was wrong spell :)
Interesting: Another vinyl related channel just did a vinyl spin on just this subject: Vinyl Room. Try the difference... 🙂
I actually prepared an A B comparison but discarded it. Everytime I do this, aftet the A to D conversion it all sounds pretty much the sane while in person I do hear slight diffetences, again, not night and day difference...p.s. my video was published first! ;-)
ana[dia]log Yeah, perhaps as downloadable 24/96 files? Michael Fremer did that comparing the SL1200G with his Continuum Caliburn... And I saw you were first 😀
I just got a new Nagaoka MP-110 cartridge mounted on a head shell and tomorrow I'm gonna swap out the cables with silver....
Great!
I see the wire ends that fit to the headshell are all the same colour so why have the colours at the other end?
Because usually you have the colors already present on the cartridge so you need only one side to be sure (and to keep the expenses down perhaps).
That doesn't make sense, surely it's the same as wiring a electrical plug, it has to be wired into same at the other end?
Maybe I wasn't clear enough. On the cartridge you have the same colors and you need to connect them in a specular way to the headshell. Having the leads colored on one side is sufficient if you already have colors on the cart or on the headshell.
ANA[DIA]LOG so on my Technics headshell ( opposite end to cartridge)there is no guidance on the pins which wires go where and I’m thinking surely they must be connected in a specific way (ie left and right channels) if not, why bother at the other end.
Just mirror the connections! Example: the upper left cable on the cart will go on the upper right of the headshell. That is looking at the pins on both.
But what is the point of this if the wire that proceeds this is copper all the way to the amplifier?
The Audiotechnica is copper. You mean the silver leads? It does because of its better transmission and most importantly silver oxide is even more conductive that silver itself and leads are usually bear wires, meaning that if they are made of copper they will oxidize sooner or later.
If u take care of them, theyll take care of you. Its a teeeenny tweak. Audibly u may not nitice it. But they are made better. So, they will last longer more often than not.
How can the lead wire do anything, when the wire inside the tonearm is "standard".? 🙄
Apart from the fact that you can rewire the tonearm but the point is that the signal brake is always negative so a good lead can help to preserve a little better the signal from the cart to the tonearm.
YOU ( NEED ) MEDICAL -- FORCEPS .
All I'm going to say is that it's pretty easy to prove if cables make a difference. Test them. Use the same album on the same turntable with 2 different cables and capture the sound. Dump it in Audacity and compare the files. Get a dif and see what the difference is, if any. Or, even easier, just do a double-blind test. But no manufacturer seems to be willing to do that.
Seriously, this "cables are snake oil" debated can be settled objectively very easily. Why does no one want to do this?
Because it does make a difference. I am not selling anything. I am doing this for pure passion. Start from the power cable of your amp and you will immediately understand what you have been missing.
@@anadialog I know you're not selling anything. What I am saying is that with any cable, a difference between it and another cable can be quantifiably and objectively measured. If a vendor sells a cable that they claim is actually better than a stock cable, they can actually prove it very easily. But I have yet to see a cable manufacturer actually go through the trouble to verify their claims through objective data and hard facts. If you want me to spend $100 on an interconnect cable, the least you could do is prove to me objectively (which is EASY to do), that your cable actually makes a difference. Do you understand what I am saying? Cable makers need to step up their game. First one that shows objective measurements and blind test results will get my money.
way late here - minor point the Thorens model TD 240 / 103. H'shell wires are pretty much not replaceable ( and stock, very fragile. ) plus being Thorens a new h'shell with wires is $ 75. IF ya can find one. Booo. ( Dual model cs5000 uses the same H'shell , without the thorens sticker for about $50. again, hard to find. )
the wire ends that go towards the tonearm seem to be soldered ( no clips ) into a small roundish plastic piece that is removable. but I wouldn't suggest trying it. poor design.
I'd say a poor design near universally , this isn't 1970. such tiny fragile parts. I think technics tried to offer a system that the cartridge plugged direct into end of tonearm , didn't catch on obviously but that would have been the way to go. at least with the semi standard SME / technics style replacement H'shells with wires is only $ 30. or so.
OMG! Another way to spend money on my stereo? Where’s my credit card?!
😆
Thanks for sharing this "tweek".. Along the same line, I saw this video from Rick Schultz talking about using contact enhancer product for cartridge pins.. thought would be interesting to share.. ua-cam.com/video/45jveGS10sg/v-deo.html
Thanks!