Clearaudio universal tonearm re-wire.

I have two Universal arms and those litz wires give me major stress anytime I have to swap a cartridge. I am super careful and have been lucky so far, but I'm interested in solutions if I ever have an issue. I assume repeated cartridge changes will eventually result in a tearful outcome.

@mijostyn All good advice that I follow anyway.

However, I know that my dealer does all those things too, and has broken wires. Once, Musical Surroundings sent me a warranty replacement Universal and when it arrived two of the head shell wires were broken in transit because they didn’t secure them by putting a little bag around the head shell. These wrires are very, very, very thin. They do break easily enough.

How long have you had a Universal and how often have you swapped cartridges on one?

@hiendmmoe

@mijostyn is happy to offer his expertise, but he didn’t answer my question about his real-world experience with this arm. His advice is very good if not painfully obvious to most of us doing our own setup. I wonder if he’s touched or ever even seen a Clearaudio Universal, much less dealt with the extreme caution required for removing/installing cartridges on one.

I agree with you. I can’t envision stripping the insulation and re-soldering a lead. Nevertheless, the problem is when they snap, as they do so easily, it’s usually close to the point of exit from the wand, and off to Germany for a rewire in that case.

As good as this arm is (and I have two of them), it is a scary PITA to deal with during cartridge installation. I usually enjoy a nice API first to calm my nerves. LOL

@mulveling Thanks for weighing in on this. I agree with you. OMG: I had a Clarify and then a Magnify. Those magnetic bearings arms are just evil. Add a pair of subs to the mix and listen to the feedback go completely crazy. Musical Surroundings doesn't even support those arms anymore. You can see them on the Clearaudio website, but they are absent from the Musical Surroundings site.

@mijostyn I personally don't need any options at the moment. I have two Universal arms and have managed to keep the head shell wires intact so far. However, I have a temporary Dynavector on my 12" arm while my Lyra is out for cleaning/repair. I will have some stress swapping them out again on its return. I suppose if I do break a lead I will just go the official route for repair.

@mijostyn I can confirm that looking at a Clearaudio Universal tonearm does not result in broken head shell wires. I have hours of experience doing just that and it never happened.

The truth of the matter is that the fragility of the head shell wires is real and well-known. The users know it, the dealers know it, and the U.S. distributor knows it (as they warned me about it first). You’re not the expert on it this time.

@mijostyn I’m 65 and still cycle about 5600 miles year. I don’t plan to slow down, although the last months have been on hold after a motorist in May decided their iPhone was more important than my safety. I’m just getting back to riding after several injuries. :(

They also destroyed my bike, but I have a new Moots on order. :)

@mijostyn I know you like to tinker and figure out how to take things apart and fix them. I think that’s awesome, but I'm really not much of a DIY person myself, although I know my way around my bicycles well enough. I really have no desire to try and pull wires through the tonearm myself, or even solder cartridge leads. I’ll leave that to the pros.

On the Universal, there is no DIN connector on the arm anywhere. It is truly a direct wire from the head shell leads all the way to the RCA connectors at the phono-stage. There are no connectors along the way. I can understand why Clearaudio does it that way. It likely has sonic advantages. If for no other reason it may keep the tonearm cable capacitance as low as possible (~240pF they tell me), which has an advantage for setting lower cartridge loading for better performance.

@mijostyn There is no compelling reason to rewire my tonearms while they are presently intact. That’s just a waste of money and time. They are fine for now. If the leads break I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, in which case I’ll probably just have my dealer take care of getting it to Clearaudio for official rewire.

The good news for me is I have two Universal arms, one with a stereo cartridge and one with a mono. If I am without one of the arms for a while then I can do without using my mono cartridge while I wait for return of a repaired arm, if and when that happens.

@mijostyn I am getting a Moots Vamoots RCS, SRAM Red AXS 46/33 x 10-33, Zip 353 NSW wheels. I'll run 32mm tires tubeless.

I ride gravel, a '18 Salsa Warbird Carbon with a Lauf fork, Shimano GRX Di2 38T x 10-42, and Easton gravel wheels tubeless with WTB Raddler 44mm tires.

I also ride single-speed (42 x 16), a custom built All-City Nature Boy. My 60th birthday fell on the day of Copper Triangle 2018. I trained for a year and did that event on it regeared to 42 x 21. 80 miles, four climbs up mountain passes for a total 6300' elevation gain, all at 8000-11,500' elevation. I finished...what a birthday to remember.

Good luck with your knee and shoulder. I had four broken ribs, a broken foot, and a torn up knee (among other things). I still have knee pain, but it doesn't hurt to ride, so I am getting back in shape for that.

If people want to use their phone while driving I suggest they they get a $1M Umbrella Policy to protect their assets. Otherwise, I'm happy to take it away from them. I have an excellent personal injury trial lawyer, and I ride with cameras to show juries what happened.

@mijostyn I have not toured in Europe. It’s on my bucket list. Maybe I’ll do a Trek Tour. I have heard good things about that.

SRAM and Shimano electronic drivetrains work great for me. No one around here uses Campy on new bikes, and I think it’s an expensive proposition to do so.

I rode 7500 miles on my last Moots with SRAM Force AXS electronic and it worked brilliantly. That’s why I am continuing on with Red AXS, a bit of an upgrade.

Agree on using Orange sealant. That’s all I use, and all our bikes (wife’s included) run tubeless. I have not used a tube for any reason in the last 25,000 miles of cycling. I also run liners now too, and don’t even bother carrying a spare tube anymore (except on longer unsupported gravel events).