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Headhsell leads on SME V

I was changing the cartridge on my arm and one of the headshell leads broke. I switched the one that had the problem but now it only works in mono (only one speaker responds). I don't have a complete set so I just replaced the defective lead with a spare I had lying around and noticed another one of the SME leads was breaking so I switched that as well. So now there are two ortofon leads and two sme leads attached to the arm. Could this be causing any problems or is it just that it's a connection issue?
ssayeed

Showing 2 responses by hifihvn

hifihvn
943 posts
 
The wires must not be in correct order.One other possibility I can think of is,one of the wires may appear to be soldered,but the insulation may be the only thing touching the terminal, causing it to look ok. Last on my list is a connection in the cartridge itself let go.The different brand of wires shouldn't cause this.
hifihvn
943 posts
 
Nandric,It doesn't matter whether they are soldered on,crimp on,or both,the fine stands of wire break easily.The crimp on type seem to hide the problem even more.I've seen many on my friends or mine that appear to be be firmly attached and be making a good connection,when there was no connection,due to broken strands of wire.The crimp on terminal clips are a little more durable.Some still use the solder only type.When you've gone though 30 or 40 different cartridge types over decades,this happens a lot.I'm glad it was this,instead of a more costly problem.
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