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Re: What is the 5 pin DIN connector on the tonearm?

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Garth,

Yes, that tonearm electrical connector is not a DIN. However, like much other "knowledge" in the analog audio industry, this misconception and mis-labelling been around in the US and Europe for a very long time. This state of affairs has its benefits - if you ask most people for a "DIN tonearm connector", they will share the misconception and know what you are talking about.

But if you ask for a DIN tonearm connector in Japan - where many of the tonearm parts are / were actually made, in many cases you will draw a blank stare, and at the very least, you will be told that you must mean a "JIS" rather than a "DIN."

But the funny thing is, as far as I know, that tonearm electrical connector isn't even a JIS.

That connector appears to have been first designed and made years ago by a company called Denon Parts (nothing to do with Nippon Columbia, BTW). Denon Parts was making a lot of tooled and molded internal components for the Japanese analog industry at that time, and it seems like they consulted with various tonearm manufacturers before coming up with the final design. It was a "Japanese analog industry standard", but it was designed for tonearm use - any other application would have been incidental. And so as long as all of the tonearm manufacturers agreed to use it (which they did), there was no need nor point in making it comply to any national "industrial standard" - either Japanese or German. It also made sense for most manufacturers to use Denon Parts' designs not only for reasons of standardization and compatibility, but also because this meant that they wouldn't have to come up with the money for their own molding and tooling.

For years I was also under the impression that the connector was a JIS, but I had reason to study the various JIS connectors - and I couldn't find any mention of this particular connector. Further research led me to Denon Parts (who have since focused on componentry for electronic assembly and repair - they no longer seem to be doing anything focused specifically on analog), and although I haven't been able to verify dates and original blueprints, the older Japanese analog designers that I have talked to (they've been around for a lot longer than I have) seem to agree on the above.

But whatever its history is, that tonearm electrical connector sure ain't a DIN!

HTH,
jonathan carr


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