Din or RCA output?

[Holmz]

The cartridge operates with a low signal voltage. The more contact points there are, the more potential for error. That's a fact. If these contact points are cleaned regularly, there's nothing wrong with that, but I decided not to.
If it is possible without completely disassembling the tonearm, i always recommend continuous cabling.
Good sound kit

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Sure I suppose one can cut off the pins and solder it up…
They seem to sound fine with the various colours of tonearm cable just slid on though.

There are fighter airplanes, spacecraft, deep sea vehicles which all have connectors coming out the ying-yang, and they all seem to work just fine. Maybe they are more digital now. Even the Glomar ran power and video for miles on their cable harness.

Sure a cartridge motor generates a tiny signal, but gold plated pins and female connectors seem to be making good connections.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Sure I suppose one can cut off the pins and solder it up…
They seem to sound fine with the various colours of tonearm cable just slid on though.

There are fighter airplanes, spacecraft, deep sea vehicles which all have connectors coming out the ying-yang, and they all seem to work just fine. Maybe they are more digital now. Even the Glomar ran power and video for miles on their cable harness.

Sure a cartridge motor generates a tiny signal, but gold plated pins and female connectors seem to be making good connections.

This usually takes an hour. To do this, unscrew the DIN plug, cut the cable directly behind it, solder the new cable there and solder it thinly; thick areas prevent the new cable from passing through. If you have a replaceable headshell, loosen the lower screw on the bayonet catch, then pull the new cable through the tonearm using the old cable. When soldering at the bayonet, insert an old headshell and solder it on using a short, strong heat. If the heat is applied for too long, the spring contacts inside will no longer work. Then fit a strain relief (made of bronze in the kit), either using the screw from the DIN plug or with drops of glue.

The continuous wiring is complete. Without a replaceable headshell, I would use the pickup plugs from Clearaudio. They are made of direct gold-plated copper and their shape ensures a secure fit.

Clearaudio Cartridge Pins

Multipoint spring contact, absolute non-magnetic, direct gold plated.

www.technologyfactory.eu

This cabling was clearly superior to my previous AudioQuest Leopard PhonoCable(900€) in terms of sound. If you're happy with the sound, I wouldn't change anything, but there's a lot to improve.
P.S
You don't want to really compare connector quality with aircraft and high-end audio. They use connectors like Lemo and Tuchel, which are worlds ahead of the audio in terms of contact reliability.

 

[poonbean]

Are you saying that a copper to solder to copper connection is superior to a gold pin to gold socket connection?

 

[DasguteOhr]

Are you saying that a copper to solder to copper connection is superior to a gold pin to gold socket connection?

Your gold to gold pin conection need a solder conconection at both ends. I have no conection resistance at this point at the tonearm who wins think about it.

 

[mtemur]

I’ve rewired a few tonearms from various brands. If done properly, rewiring can bring significant improvement—but it’s crucial to ensure that none of the bearings or related parts are disturbed or removed. In many cases, it’s extremely difficult to rewire a tonearm without affecting bearings or support components that were torqued at the factory. I remember feeling like I was going to have a heart attack while rewiring a couple of Thales Statement arms.

You often read comments like “the soundstage opened up” or “detail level increased” after a rewire. While those may indeed be the result of successful rewiring, they can also indicate loosened bearings. The real key is the bass—if the job is done properly, the bass should be strong and firm. The best way to check whether the bearings were disturbed is to compare before and after using the resonance track in the AnalogMagik software.

If you’re not absolutely sure what you’re doing, don’t attempt to rewire your tonearm—chances are you may ruin it. Personally, I don’t buy a rewired tonearm unless it was either rewired by me or by someone whose work I trust.

 

[DasguteOhr]

I’ve rewired a few tonearms from various brands. If done properly, rewiring can bring significant improvement—but it’s crucial to ensure that none of the bearings or related parts are disturbed or removed. In many cases, it’s extremely difficult to rewire a tonearm without affecting bearings or support components that were torqued at the factory. I remember feeling like I was going to have a heart attack while rewiring a couple of Thales Statement arms.

You often read comments like “the soundstage opened up” or “detail level increased” after a rewire. While those may indeed be the result of successful rewiring, they can also indicate loosened bearings. The real key is the bass—if the job is done properly, the bass should be strong and firm. The best way to check whether the bearings were disturbed is to compare before and after using the resonance track in the AnalogMagik software.

If you’re not absolutely sure what you’re doing, don’t attempt to rewire your tonearm—chances are you may ruin it. Personally, I don’t buy a rewired tonearm unless it was either rewired by me or by someone whose work I trust.

Here rewire, check and tweak what you want

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[Kjetil]

^This is a DIN 5-pin connector:

 

[DasguteOhr]

^This is a DIN 5-pin connector:
View attachment 155378

Correct, for tonearms is a 5-pin SME connector

 

[Don_Camillo]

Technically speaking, there's no relevant difference between through-wiring or the DIN connection with separate phono cables. However, the DIN connection helps establish the correct load for the cartridge, especially when the phono stage offers few or no adjustment options.
Said this I´d rather go with 5-pin DIN connector.

 

[Holmz]

Technically speaking, there's no relevant difference between through-wiring or the DIN connection with separate phono cables. However, the DIN connection helps establish the correct load for the cartridge, especially when the phono stage offers few or no adjustment options.
Said this I´d rather go with 5-pin DIN connector.

How does the DIN do that?
Some capacitance or??

 

[Don_Camillo]

How does the DIN do that?
Some capacitance or??

No, capacitance is added by the phono cable

 

[Holmz]

No, capacitance is added by the phono cable

Ok - how does the DIN establish the correct load?

... However, the DIN connection helps establish the correct load for the cartridge,...

 

[Don_Camillo]

Ok - how does the DIN establish the correct load?

Switching to a phono cable with different capacitance will change the load

 

[Holmz]

Switching to a phono cable with different capacitance will change the load

Let’s try and start again…

Technically speaking, there's no relevant difference between through-wiring or the DIN connection with separate phono cables. However, the DIN connection helps establish the correct load for the cartridge, especially when the phono stage offers few or no adjustment options.
Said this I´d rather go with 5-pin DIN connector.

You say technically speaker there is no difference.
And then, later…
That the DIN connection helps to establish the correct load.

Do you understand how I am getting confused at understanding what you’re writting?

 

[Don_Camillo]

Any cartridge – whether MM, MI, or MC – is an AC voltage generator. This always exhibits a certain oscillation behavior and must be electrically damped for achieving a linear frequency response; otherwise you´ll get a frequency response that increases towards higher frequencies. This so-called high-frequency resonance can only be shifted within the frequency band, but not eliminated.

The position of the high-frequency resonance in the frequency band determines whether the pickup sounds bright or dark and how it presents spatiality and plasticity.

The electrical damping is also called load and depends on the coils inductance and resistance of the cartridge, as well as the input impedance of the phono stage and the capacitance of the tonearm's internal wiring and/ plus phono cable. The entire phenomenon can even be calculated, allowing one to determine the optimal load values. With MM and MI cartridges, the capacitance has a significant effect, whereas with MC cartridges, the resistance is the decisive factor.

Consequently and from a technical perspective, it makes no difference whether the correct load is achieved by adjusting the input resistance or by switching on or off capacitances in the phono stage input, or whether a cable with a lower or higher capacitance is used.

If these adjustment options are missing at the phono stage input, an interchangeable phono cable will do the job and thus makes the 5-pin DIN connector on the tonearm the helping hand for achieving the proper load.

 

[Catcher10]

I just added the new ProJect EVO CA HG 10" arm to my Xtension 10 table and the tonearm is terminated for DIN. So I bought a Audioquest Angel phono cable (DIN => RCA) and I am experiencing a much lower noise floor. For sure if my phonostage allowed I would have done DIN => XLR. If I opt to upgrade phonostage this will be an option to have.
Cheers