Blackbird 12.5" Tonearm: revised with DIN Connector.

schubert

1. revised version has a din connector pre-wired on the base plate

2. early version (mine) has 5 miniature litz wires that need to be soldered to either rca or din or ....

Phono cables above the base are much easier to install/change, but dust covers often need a notch cut in them. 

I mounted their rca junction box using semi-permanent tape on the top of my plinth and cut a notch in my dust cover. I could have mounted it on the rear edge out of sight, but then the litz wires would be more vulnerable.

Bill,

stop working so hard and come visit!!!

I just noticed, this 14" arm has their RCA Junction Box pre-wired on the UNDERSIDE of the pivot plate. 

http://newartvinyl.ru/board/detali_proigryvatelja/tonarm_long_life_14/7-1-0-45

That requires a lot of clearance below, mine is ON a plinth, so: I bought that box as a separate item, stripped the 5 litz wires, soldered the tiny things, mounted the box myself separately on the plinth near the tonearm. I shake my head every time I think about it. The chances of it going poorly, then what? It was a big risk. Pre-wired DIN, very little risk.

I’m sure they would make your preference, RCA or DIN in any length if asked.

lewm,

the arm's designer 'prefers/preferred/stubbornly insisted' that the buyer can make as pure a chain as possible with loose litz wires as you describe.

I was not shy about my opinion: "you strip these wires, you solder them"!

There's a limit to how long a length litz wires should be, not to mentioned the lack of protection from EMI/RFI, so realistically it's going to a nearby connector of some type, then via din/rcabalanced cable. Mine: litz to their rca junction box; rca to SUT; SUT rca to mx110z MM Phono In.

I suspect they will make a balanced connector version if requested, they are enthusiasts as you can tell.

They finally had to admit, very few people are going to do that, and those few people might buy a different arm it seems to me. i.e. I would prefer to adjust VTA while playing. 

Their arm lacks a precision base like the acos-lustre gst-801, (no surprise at the low price). An optional VTA on the Fly mount would be nice, keep the base arm price down, pre-designed optional feature, like a conversion lens for a camera; kit lens/optional high quality lens ..
.................................................

actually, after trepidations, I found stripping the litz wires easier than stripping a 'normal' wire.

usually we cut in from the edge with a wire stripper, depth adjusted for the particular gauge, and forcefully pull a length of the outer insulation off, trying not to cut/break the conductor strands. the thought of this is what caused me lack of sleep.

these silk covered enamel covered litz wires, hard to see even thru a magnified shop light: I simply used the tip of a fresh exacto-knike blade and scratched the silk apart/off by movements parallel to the conductors. get a fuzz ball of silk, cut it off, roll the wire a bit, repeat. Easy.

Next: Put a lump of 'silver' solder on the contacts first, then heat that lump and insert the litz wires into the molten lump, thus never heating the litz wire or silk covering itself.

To keep things in place, no tugging on the litz wires:
I mounted the arm in the removable arm board, down to the shop.
then I made an extension board to have a surface to temporarily mount the rca junction box behind the arm so it could not move (where it would be positioned on the plinth).
soldered everything, back upstairs,
then carefully get the junction box 'loose', get the temporary board under it out of the way,
insert/mount the arm board 
mount the rca junction box same location but now on the plinth (I used double faced tape).

Easy, unless you never did it before.
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Why? After general advice against it (totally unknown here) I just couldn't get that arm out of my brain. I had messed with the JVC 7082 Arm's sagging counterweight issue, and found it was only 11-5/8" effective, ... I liked everything about the design, a full 12.5" (the goal was after all a long arm), it just barely fit, aren't I clever, 

oh yeah, I just remembered, beyond eBay/PayPal protection, I bought a square trade 3 year warranty for it $110. (called square trade first, discussed rarity etc.). Arm, with custom spacer was $1,090.  + $110. = $1,200. total delivered with 3 yr warranty

Now, pre-wired connector, din or rca, known nice guys, very little risk.

oh yeah, covid hit, the shipping got delayed, held here at JFK airport for quite a while, another display of my patience.

I'm still regretful that Russian Preamp didn't work out, not just me, but for the seller too, they really tried to solve it.

lewm,

I saw videos of people burning insulation off, but I figured I would melt everything shorter, repeatedly. You willl probably agree: until you have messed with them, you can’t conceive just how tiny these wires are. Frighteningly delicate. I still have a hard time believing how many individual strands are there after looking with my 30x shop light.

Seller marked the silk covering with colored markers very near the ends. Luckily I have set of different colored tape, and was able to mark them further up, because if I made a mistake, burned the strands, the wire would get shorter, and I would then scrape the original color mark off.

Recently, a friend’s Grace tonearm, ends of the cartridge jumpers soldered to the arm, a wire disconnected. I simply burned the vinyl insulation off and made the repair, so easy, I felt like a pro!

cleeds,

I meant a logical limit to the length of and physical/interference exposure of the tiny litz wires. They are frighteningly delicate.

here is silk covered 36 individual strands, each 0.04mm strand enamel coated so the ’skin effect’ is contained in each individual strand, not the twisted mass of 36 strands until the solder joints at the ends. that’s the reason for litz ’construction’.

https://box03.lencomotionaudio.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=65&product_id=69

They could break, get scraped, lose a speck of enamel coating, that is their only insulation within the silk, thus the enamel is the only outer electrical insulation as well.

Once you change to an insulated phono cable of any type, (in an EMI/RFI blocking junction box, mine is aluminum) off you go.

I have 3’; 6’; and a custom 8’ braided phono cable from Pine Tree (originally needed to get to the bottom of my mono arm, left side rearward facing, thus front left corner din connection), back behind, then down and forward to SUT on lower shelf.

I moved my SUT up and back close to the TT, was going to have Pine Tree make me 3 short phono cables, tried my various lengths, decided not to bother, I cannot perceive a difference in sound.

Aside from sound, short lengths minimizing the chance of acquiring hum is a consideration. Happily, never an issue in this setup. Prior setup other end of the room, I chased a hum for a few weeks till I solved it. What a curse hum can be.

btw, keeping cables too short can force you to locate something too close to something else, hmmmmm there’s 'better' worsening things.