use cardas wire. redoing the arm is a tedious process, so dont do it when you are tired.
use the OE wires to pull the new wires through. I used sewing thread since it holds well but is still flexible. |
Hi John,
Thank you for looking at this.
Yes, I think I know what you mean, I fixed some isolation on mine close to the pivot place, that was a challenge, but like you said - go slow and take a deep breath :)
Sorry - what is OE wire?
And one more, in case I decide to do it myself - when you solder - do you think you can solder with gold? I never did it before, just wondering? Otherwise the place where you solder will break the copper flow with whatever it is in the solder, is that right?
Thank you
Anatoliy |
Well,
Decided to take the re-wire route and here is the result.
Plunged into BritAudio rewire service, asked before shipping if can be done, the answer was positive.
Now got the arm back not wired with the refund check minus shipping, the note says "Unable to install new wiring in tonearm due to small opening for wire to pass through".
Anybody had more luck somewhere else?
Looks like I have no better option now than take another chance.
Thank you |
I have never rewired a Sumiko. So I can add no advice for that part.
1)34awg is only a starting point. There are many of us that believe the smaller the better. I am using 44awg magnet wire, enamel coated. The clarity in the midrange is astounding. I know you said you like a warm sound, but I will address that later.
2)Copper wire is a good conclusion. I have never tried Silver, so can't comment.
3)Silk or Enamel; here is the hard part. The dielectric has more influence on the tiny signal than most want to admit. Silk is the best since there is no cotton coated wire I know of. A silk wrapped wire will have the least amount of dielectric smearing. At this point your need for a 'warm' sound is out the window. Good. Once you taste clarity, you would never go back.
4)Please invest in lead free, silver solder. Mundorf, WBT being two easy ones to get.
5)I will get a lot of grief for saying this next thing. WBT Nextgen RCA connectors (way too expensive, but the best I have used), with the Eichmann Bullets being the next best. IF XLR, the cheap Neutrik 'non' gold plated being the best of that family for me.
6)Keep the wire on the outside of the armtube for now. Try a few different wire's until you find your fave. Don't discount 46/10 Litz wire, cheap cheap cheap, sounds great.
7)Shielding may not be needed. For my system, careful orientation of the wires as they reach the phono pre get's rid of any hum. Non shielded cables sound best to me YMMV. |
Thanks a lot, Cousinbillyl,this is really helpful.
By the way, the old Sumiko wires (now gone as I mentioned) were silk coated, which confirms what you just said.
I am actually excited about getting into this, arm rewire I mean, your short intro will be very helpful. I liked the 'do not put in the arm, go external first' idea!
By the way - where did you get the 44 awg wire from, any particular dealer/brand you have in mind? My guess will be doesn't matter but any particular pointer will help.
Best Regards
Anatoliy |
I agree with Cousinbilly....shielded wire closes down the sound. |
Cousinbillyl,
Sorry, forgot to ask you - the 44 awg wire you mentioned - that was not litz wire, was a single thread, correct?
Thank you |
Sorry for the delay.
Litz wire can be found on ebay. PLease remember each tiny strand is coated. This must be removed. If you have a solder pot, great, if not - get some solder on the end of your iron tip, rub it across the ends of the wire, repeat. You will see that with each sucessive pass, less and less 'stuff' comes off the wire. This will be evidenced by black bubbling stuff on the end of the solder iron. Clean iron after each pass, add solder to the end before each 'clean'. Be sure to 'clean' with the lead free silver solder. No use skimping on solder when our cartidges are thousands.
I use straight 'magnet wire'. Go to any transformer rewiring service in your area. They have spools of the stuff. Please remember that magnet wire is very pure. It may not be 6 nines, but there are those that think this hole 6+ nines copper is a load of kaka. If you are a true lunatic, I mean Audiophile, get your final choice 'cryoed'.
I am using a single thread per run of 44 awg magnet wire. This makes 4 wires in total. That was obvious, but I thought I better make sure.
My Allnic H3000V phono pre does not have balanced inputs, that's why I am using the WBT Nextgen. When I am using the Atma-Sphere MP1's phono input,I use the Neutrik. |
Wow! Never imagined the coating must be removed from litz wires. Please forgive my ignorance - why? OI thought the idea of litz strands was to minimize the 'skin' effect, but if coating taken off you got one thicker conductor? Or the flow will still follow each strand? My high school was a way back, I can't say how magnetic fields will behave when coating is taken off...
Now, with 46/10 litz you mentioned before - do we clean all 10 strands?.
I found a few places, I am sure I will find more but a few that just happened to make if first, would appreciate if you could share an opinion.
This one is 0.061 mm, enamel and silk on copper, not litz:
http://wires.co.uk/acatalog/sc_wires.html
And here is litz:
http://wires.co.uk/acatalog/litzwire.html
- 81 (!) strands of 0.025 mm, silk covered. Do you think (as I am true Audiophile yet:) it will make sense to take 4 strands out of the 81 to make a single wire, and do it 3 times to get another 3? Have not seen any silk coated litz anywhere else yet...
Best Regards |
Wait till you see how small a 46awg wire is. You can hardly see it.
Once you have cleaned off the ends, at both ends, you now have to start testing with an Ohm meter. This is to see which strands are which. Leave an entire evening for this. |
Hi, wonder if I will need the flux, never solded wires these thin, or the using the Mundorf I wouldn't need that? They say the wire does contain the flux but I wonder if I's better to apply some of that? I am curious to know if there are any drawback in USING flux rather than not...
Thank you |
