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If you have changed cables, to what brand? Special RCA's? What is your opinion on the new cables vs the standard/old ones?

I have no idea what VPI installed inside my JMW'Memorial' 12.4 arm wand but I'm not about to go fiddling with it. I did notice an improvement of stock standard copper shielded multi strand cable from TT to phono preamp when I replaced them with home made shielded, solid core silver cable terminated with silver Eichman plugs. I've found Eichman plugs to be superior to anything else I've used BUT they are hell to solder, difficult to plug in and fragile.

Are you talking about the actual wire from the leads/cartridge or the IC from table to phono amp?

Anyway- yeah, I replaced the standard lead wires/internal ICs in my Well-Tempered Turntable a few years ago because I thought the ones included (all silver) were a bit, I don't know, thin sounding. Plus they were near 20 years old, the leads looked oxidized as hell. The RCAs were not great to begin with, and looked all dried out (the plastic parts anyway) and got this annoying loose wire ground hum now and again.

It was a nightmare project actually because I had to make up my own terminations with Cardas lead wires about as thin as your eye lashes! Try stripping the insulation off that stuff and then figure out how to silver solder RCAs to it! Anyway, it all turned out good in the end, and I used some high-grade RCAs as well which give excellent connection. The sounds was not radically better, but noticeable, especially in the bass region, and I didn't get the random ground hum I'd get before.

After that I use Audioquest King Cobra cables, which I feel do everything about right and are not, for me, crazy expensive. They are MUCH better than the crap you get in the box, if high-end gear came with interconnects, which they don't.

You can see the job I did on my TT in the DIY gallery, along with other mods and projects of mine. TT Lead Wire Project

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If you have changed cables, to what brand? Special RCA's? What is your opinion on the new cables vs the standard/old ones?

I have no idea what VPI installed inside my JMW'Memorial' 12.4 arm wand but I'm not about to go fiddling with it. I did notice an improvement of stock standard copper shielded multi strand cable from TT to phono preamp when I replaced them with home made shielded, solid core silver cable terminated with silver Eichman plugs. I've found Eichman plugs to be superior to anything else I've used BUT they are hell to solder, difficult to plug in and fragile.

VPI uses Nordost Valhalla wire in their tonearms.
http://www.vpiindustries.com/static.php?page=Tonearms
Mike

I upgraded mine myself with the Incognito Kit.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Incognito-Tonearm-...rts_Accessories

Honestly, I thought I heard an improvement in clarity/HF/LF extension, but the biggest improvement I got was PEACE OF MIND(which is valuable in and of itself). The stock wire and ICs were really dodgy(and very well should have been at the age they were) and very well could have been making a bad connection.

anyway, I highly reccomend the company.

I would honestly put my highly modified Rega up against any TT up to 5,000.00. Of course, it doesn't even resemble a rega anymore(new platter, subplatter, tonearm rewire, custom slate plinth, fancy counterweight, new motor and new feet ) but it sure was fun upgrading. this is what I get a kick out of...taking something good and making it into something great...no fun in buying "top shelf" stuff(not for me as someone who loves to fiddle about)

I love my SOTA Sapphire too, though.

Oh man- I definitely would have used that incognito kit had I known about it! They basically have the whole thing set up for except getting in/on the arm!

I agree it's worth replacing something if only for having it better connecting/more solid. Sometimes quality is as much about consistency, right?

Quite a few cars are like that- hell Mercedes and Volvo practically exist due to those factors. Sure, they sex them up somewhat, but most of what you get are ultra solid and well made vehicles, than anything high performance as a rule.

I make my own wiring and of course ditched the radio shack quality wires my table shipped with. High capacitance, high impedence wiring that has significant voltage drop will suck the life right out of your rig.

I would recommend any newbie spend a considerable amount of time with a reference system and several dozen different types of cables including raw do-it-yourself wires. See what works and then use it everywhere because you know and trust it.

What you are looking for is a three dimensional, palpable, fat, healthy, full sound with lots of twinkle and zing on top if that's what the sound should sound like (cymbals, violins, bells, tambourine, etc). Once you find a wire that doesn't lie you can "trust" it and use it everywhere. Don't use wires to tame excessive syballence or "add" bass by rolling off the highs. Replace any gear that sucks, don't replace the wires that tell you the gear sucks. The wire is true, the gear is crap, not the other way around.

A system is only as good as the weakest link. I have the same grade wiring everywhere in my systems. Top Grade. I use the same wire for everything. If it is balanced I use two runs of it! In a system there has to be a hierarchy or you keep fixing the same problem over and over. Choosing a trusty brand of wire is like that. Take the time to know what wire is worth the money and then use that wire and only that wire.

Or not. Do what you want, this is what works for me.

There's a bridge over the Smith River I cross all the time. The Doctor Fine Bridge. And I was born in Kearney, NJ to parents who lived in Newark 58 years ago. So I have to respect your sage advice because there is something cosmic to this (inter) connection!

Although I posted this before, it bears repeating.

I had replaced the cable from the TT base to the pre-amp with fully-shielded, two conductor twisted-pair, Teflon(R) insulated wiring. The shield goes around both conductors, and is grounded only at one end. The new cable made a real difference in sound. I liken it to much better individualizing the sound of each instrument so as not to interfere with each other, compared to the stock wiring.

Are these the best cables? Who knows. I didn't feel like doing more after hearing how much more music came through compared to before, plus I didn't have any more time to experiment (kids take up time).

Does the cable matter? In my case yes and the tweak was 'better'.