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In Reply to: I may be mistaken, but.... posted by jhorowitz128 on March 16, 2007 at 15:49:01:
Many thanks for that. I actually want to make 2 sets of leads: -1. One is a straight 2 RCA to 2 RCA interconnect for connecting my phono stage to my preamp.
Lets forget this lead for the time being
and concentrate on this other lead:2. The other is a cable from my step up transformer bare wires to RCA sockets which will be connected to my phono stage. My turntable lead (LP12) has 2 RCA's which I connect to the primary side of the step up transformer and a ground lead which I connect to the step up grounding screw. I also run a separate cable from the step up grounding screw to the phono stage grounding screw.
Bearing this in mind do your instructions still apply? Do I have the following right: - I solder one end of my musiflex cable (using the insulated wires) to the secondary side of the step up transformers leads, then at the other end of the musiflex I solder RCA sockets on - with respective insulated wires connected. The drain wire at the RCA end (phonostage end) is then soldered to a separate wire (as per your nice pictures) and run to the phono stage grounding screw. At the other (source) end of the musiflex is the drain wire left unconnected?
I should add that each step up has an extra wire on its secondary side called a "electromagnectic shield". I was told by the manufacturer (Sowter) to connect this to the -ve terminal to go to the phono stage. Is this right?
If I did all this would I have two many ground wires? There would be two connected to the phono stage (from step up grounding and from drain wire).
Follow Ups:
I see that I have basically the same set-up as you do.From the phono stage to the preamp, I use a 4 condutor DIY microphone cable that's unshielded, similar to the one in the photos but without the flying leads. From the step-up to the preamp, I use a DIY 2 conductor microphone wire.
"The other is a cable from my step up transformer bare wires to RCA sockets which will be connected to my phono stage. My turntable lead (LP12) has 2 RCA's which I connect to the primary side of the step up transformer and a ground lead which I connect to the step up grounding screw. I also run a separate cable from the step up grounding screw to the phono stage grounding screw."
Yes, that is correct."Bearing this in mind do your instructions still apply? Do I have the following right: - I solder one end of my musiflex cable (using the insulated wires) to the secondary side of the step up transformers leads, then at the other end of the musiflex I solder RCA sockets on - with respective insulated wires connected. The drain wire at the RCA end (phonostage end) is then soldered to a separate wire (as per your nice pictures) and run to the phono stage grounding screw. At the other (source) end of the musiflex is the drain wire left unconnected?"
Yes, that's correct. You must be sure not to have the drain wire touch the RCA plugs. And yes, the source end (step-up) drain wire
should not be connected."If I did all this would I have two many ground wires? There would be two connected to the phono stage (from step up grounding and from drain wire)."
Yes, that's exacly how I have it...a seperate grounding wire from the step-up to the phono stage and the flying grounding wires from the Musiflex (those 2 wires will be connected with a clip or spade) to the phono stage. So you'll have just 2 physical connections to the preamp ground.
"I should add that each step up has an extra wire on its secondary side called a "electromagnectic shield". I was told by the manufacturer (Sowter) to connect this to the -ve terminal to go to the phono stage. Is this right?"
I have only 2 wires coming from the secondary side...one+ and one-, so I'm not familiar with your third wire.
Hope this helps,
Jeff
Many thanks for all your help Jeff. I will try all that out tomorrow and see how I get on. I understand your instructions exactly now. thanks for going into so much detail. It was lucky you had a similar set up. Someone on the Vinyl Asylum recommended this way of wiring Step up to Phono Stage to me as well but I didn't understand it properly until now.The other thing now is: How should I configure the cable from the phono stage to preamp?
1. Should I try to use Musiflex cable in the way that it is configured in the picture Duster posted? If so which end should have the drain wire(connect to shield) soldered to the RCA collar.
2. As per 1. but shield connected to both collars?
3. Should I try the way SF TECH suggested and use the 2 bare twisted insulated wires from my Musiflex cable after carefully cutting off outer casing/shielding/drain wire
3. Other? Why and how do you use a microphone cable with four insulated wires for the phono stage to preamp cable?!!!!
Hi Davy,"1. Should I try to use Musiflex cable in the way that it is configured in the picture Duster posted? If so which end should have the drain wire(connect to shield) soldered to the RCA collar.
2. As per 1. but shield connected to both collars?"
If you have no RFI problems, you can try it as per Duster's post, but leave the drain unconnected at either end. I've read that an unshieded cable will sound better, but I have no personal knowledge of that. OR...
You may want to take a short length of drain wire on one end of the cable, as in my picture #1, and tuck it under some heatshrink without having it touch the RCA. You can try the cable like that and if you have some RFI problems, then conect it to the ground on the RCA. That's how I configured my cables. So far, I found that they work fine without any shielding. OR...Connect the drain at one end only. I did that on a long run of cable (20') from my preamp to my amps. I happened to plug the shielded end to the source (the preamp), but others do it the opposite way.
"3. Should I try the way SF TECH suggested and use the 2 bare twisted insulated wires from my Musiflex cable after carefully cutting off outer casing/shielding/drain wire?"
Why bother?
"3. Other? Why and how do you use a microphone cable with four insulated wires for the phono stage to preamp cable?!!!!"
I tied 2 of the wires (red and pink)to the positive and 2 (white and yellow)to the ground of the plugs. See link...ignore the XLR wiring diagram. These are the cables I used for all the IC's except for the step-up to the preamp. For that, I used a 2-conductor version of the GAC-4/1's. My tonearm cable was a custom-made Incognito wire.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
Jeff
Many thanks for all the help Jeff,My options are clear now. Before I was very confused. I was getting the options for the two different types of cable I wanted to make mixed up. Was my own fault as I didn't explain I wanted to make two different cables in the first place in my original post last week!! I didn't initially realise the options would be different for each of the two applications! Thank God for this forum and its helpful members!
I'm going to try the options out today and see how it sounds. Will post my results.
Many thanks again,
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