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Captive turntable interconnects; should I modify??

Hi. I came across a NOS Denon DP47f turntable from the 80's. Purchased new in Japan by a serviceman & never opened until I got it. A lot to like; well-built, rosewood base, mint, never used condition. I installed a new Ortophon Samba low-output MC cartridge, and run it through a Perreaux SXVI phono preamp. I have nothing to compare it to, but it sounds wonderful in my system. One thing I don't like is the cheap-looking captive interconnects with "Radio Shack" style RCA connections. Will I realize a noticible sonic improvement by installing nice RCA connections on the rear plate and using a nice pair of interconnects? Another option is to hard-wire a relatively thin pair of interconnects directly to the turntable. Advice please. Thanks.
klipschking
klipschking OP
82 posts
 
I think I am going to hard wire better quality cables to the tonearm leads, as several members have described above. I like Marakanetz' suggestion about the low-mass connectors; it just seems intuitively correct. It may be a few weeks 'til I have the time, but I'll let you know how it turns out. I am really surprised at the excellent sound I get out of the DP47f. May be largely due to the Ortofon Samba MC cartridge & the Perreaux SXVI MC preamp, but its also a testiment to Denon's 1980's tech!
chrissain
470 posts
 
most normal rca plugs are solid brass that are gold plated. the wbt rcs are thin pure copper tubes that are gold plated. the nextgens have much less skin effect, and lower resistance with low voltage signals than normal rcas, the phase shift is less also, which WILL sound more open ,less harsh, and more transparent . I do not work for wbt by the way nor am I a dealer, good luck, Chris
unclechoppy
3 posts
 
Late post to an old thread, but here goes. This might be a silly question, but if you inherit a good vintage turntable that has been modified with RCA jacks in the plinth back, how do you tell which side is + and which - if the jacks look alike? Can you damage either the turntable or the pre-amp if the cables are are not connected correctly? Or does it matter as long as the ground wire is fastened firmly to the pre-amp? Best wishes. -Choppy
w8aaz
43 posts
 
Are you saying the RCA jacks are not marked for left or right channel?  Well the easy thing to do would be to test continuity up to the actual cartridge connections, or the easier thing would be to compare a vinyl that you have also on CD and see if the channels sound reversed between the two sources or not.  If you have the CD player connected right!  Then mark the dang thing so you don't forget.
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