Townshend Elite Rock Mk III / Rega RB300 tonearm question


Unpacked this classic from the mid 90's.  I was overseas for many years and had this lovely TT in storage.  Recently unpacked it and am now playing music with it.  The original dealer-installed Benz Glider HO still works/sounds great too

 At that time, these tables were sold with a Townshend-installed Rega RB300 tonearm mounted on Townshend's custom mount which allows for a crude VTA adjustment via a locking thumbwheel.  This table supplies RCA jacks mounted on the rear of the arm mounting board... with wiring from the arm soldered into the RCA plugs.  I recall the USA distributor at the time was in Houston TX and the tables saw their final assembly there for US sales.

Question -- for those that might remember -- was the Rega arm that Townshend installed and sold with these tables stock Rega arms with stock wiring, or was the wiring upgraded prior to installation?  I can't tell from looking at the arm.  Of course since 1983, when the RB300 was introduced, it has become well-known that the factory wiring of the arm is perhaps it's greatest weakness.

I am thinking through, for this table/arm, whether I should pursue a wiring upgrade, or whether the wiring already better-than-stock Rega.

If any seasoned analog lovers can remember, I would be very appreciative!!!
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I'm a Rock owner (though of the Mk.2 "Elite"), but didn't know Max was offering a customized RB300 back then. More recently, he took the 300 and performed some radical surgery on it, installing the damping trough outrigger in place of the Rega headshell, as well as new bearings and other upgrades, and marketing it as the Excalibur Arm. I have found Max to be very responsive to emails and phone calls, so I would contact him to get the wiring info.

But you have another option: There is a machinist in England making two great arms using only the arm tube from the current Rega 300-series arm, making all the other arm parts himself. The company and arm is named Audiomods, and the arms are drop-in replacements for Regas. There is a website for info, should you be interested, or even just curious. 

@bdp24 
thanks for your most helpful reply

is max t is reached through the townshend audio website or FB page?  i was not sure he is still associated with the company ... but will reach out...

and thanks also for the direction towards audiomods... i know rega went to a different arm mounting system after the 90's... so need to make sure these are in fact a 'plug in' on the rock mk3 arm board system
If you could post a picture of the wire from arm to RCA's on your system page - there is a good chance of identifying the wire. I used to sell Rocks in the 80's. A popular combination at the time was Elite Rock/RB300/Audio Technica OC9. I suspect the VTA adjustment/RCA's might have been a dealer add-on or user add-on if preowned.

I had one of the Rock/Rega arm boards with the arm height adjustment thumbwheel, which was in fact made by Townshend. I sold it on Audiogon in 2015, I believe it was, when I replaced my Cardas-rewired RB300 with a nice Zeta. A really cool thing for a Rock/Rega owner/user to have! The Rock/Rega combo was and is popular with owner/users of Decca/London cartridges.

Yup jjss, Max is still very much the force behind all things Townshend, and is still an unusually creative designer, offering a great line of isolation products featuring his "Seismic Pods".

@dover
thanks! I hv posted pics of the TT and arm/headshell/connecting wire on my virtual system page - have a look - it is fine strand black wire

@bdp24
i will reach out to max t via email -- hopefully he will answer!
Hi - unfortunately, can't help on the cable id -we only sold the earlier MkII & reference - so best option would be Max Townshend or possibly Rega may be able to give you some history.
 

max doesn't answer
tried him through townshend website as well as facebook
crickets   :(
I always thought it was Cardas wiring but the Townshend documentation that I have calls it  "custom" wiring.
Audio Origami in England is well-respected for their Rega arm rewires. They offer Cardas copper and both Kondo and Ikeda silver.