What a Difference a Cable Makes! Technics SL-1200MK2 Upgrade

Cable skeptics beware! My curiosity led me down a rabbit-hole and the making of this video. I recently purchased a second Technics SL-1200MK2 and my impressions were that it didn't sound as good as my other one.
Blue Jeans LC-1

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[svensvensen]

One more step to take, which you might not have tried, would be to compare both turntables with each of your two M91ED carts, in their own headshells, swapping them back and forth to assure yourself that there are no differences in playback that might be attributed to the particular cartridge/headshell combination such as mating, alignment, vta, stylus condition and so forth. My assumption that you have two M91EDs could be wrong. If so, my apologies. BTW, congrats on the Walsh speakers. And hats off to Marty Gersten for his foresight and pioneering efforts in the speaker industry. I owned Ohm Fs in the late '70s and before that, had a pair of Rectilinears. Both very good sounding speakers. Great video! added comment: I was wrong suggesting swapping cartridges and headshells. Having watched the video again, I saw that there was one M91ED in one headshell. Is the VTA adjustable on the 1200s ? Could that be a reason for the different sound from the two, along with the cable changes?

[CodeBleu]

I've had my Technics 1200 MK2s for 24 years. Bought both turntables in the year 2000. I spin Drum & Bass so I need everything to sound crisp, clean, with the best lows and the highest highs.
My Teac receiver died recently and so I bought Technics SB-A27 speakers from a dude on Craigslist for $150. The guy threw in a Sherwood receiver for free.
I have a backup Teac receiver, but I hooked up the Sherwood to hear how it sounds since the dude threw it in...and everything sounds amazing!
Also have Ortofon Pro-S cartridges that I've been rocking since 2012.

I fell in love with Drum & Bass again after hearing everything in my rig.

[bornagainbornagain]

I never looked back after getting a nice interconnect for my first CD player. I could hear a difference very clearly. TTs you have to be careful. Just to share some info, my tech in MA. is a TT addict, he had a 40, 000$ table in his shop, he sells equipment too. He makes his own TT interconnects and he uses coaxial cable. Very important to be shielded.
Anyway want to share this information with you.


I can see why people might want to have RCA sockets on their turntables to use whatever cables they like. However, as an engineer I can also see a major problem with that, in that most MM or MI cartridges need to be loaded with specific capacitances to get flat frequency response, and to sound the way the cartridge designer wanted them to sound, and shielded audio cables can vary widely in their capacitance, between different examples.

As already mentioned, coaxial cable, as used for (radio or TV) antenna leads, or video leads, tend to be low in capacitance, so are suitable for use with turntables. But not all other shielded cables are – I’ve got leads which vary between about 50pF per metre of length (excellent for turntables), and 300pF/m (terrible for turntables!), and there’s no way of knowing by sight, without measuring them for capacitance.

So for many turntable manufacturers, their solution was to use fixed output leads of a suitable capacitance (typically 70-150pF), so that people couldn’t change them, and alter the sound of a cartridge for the worse, by using cables with a too-high capacitance. See the following picture, for how much it can affect the frequency response of some MM or MI cartridges, in this case, the ADC 10E MkIV, as measured by an audio magazine. With an extra 250pF or more, the cartridge would be sounding quite shrill due to the noticeable electrical resonance introduced (the ‘bump’ in the response), followed by a very dull sound at higher frequencies due to the level rolling off rapidly above that resonance. The top one was measured with only 145pF output cables, and the lower ones had extra capacitance added to that 145pF value.

Effect of capacitance load change on ADC 10E IV.jpg

So if you are going to use new cables, remember to use the lowest capacitance cables you can find, and try and keep the total capacitance of the cartridge to amplifier wiring well below 100pF, if possible. You can add more capacitance if needed (at the amplifier input), but it’s impossible to take capacitance away, without shortening the output leads, or modifying the amp/receiver. And depending on the capacitance of the turntable leads, and what the cartridge needs, you can get a change in the frequency response of an MM or MI cartridge, and it may sound quite different.

However, I'd stick close to what the cartridge manufacturer recommended for a capacitance load (if they did), since they should know what they need for the best frequency response. Remember that you also need to add in the (phono) input capacitance of the amplifier to the leads, to get the total capacitance that the cartridge sees.


Kind Regards from Don
I love your channel and get so much from it, I hope you get something out of this information.

[TheHammerofDissidence]

Capacitance in RCA cables matter when using a MM cart. You can argue about cables in other areas of the system, but getting the proper amount of capacitance for your cart makes a massive difference in sound.

[gerriepeters]

Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry in your collection. Now that is style.

[Mike-lpth]

I had all 3 of your demo records, then in the late 90’s, my ex took all my records. I just started recollecting and had completely forgotten about these 3, thanks!

[golds]

Just bought my mk2- mint condition. Was in a closet… wont change a thing. Its a vibe thing. To each- thrill your own ears. Nice video. Nice system.

[TheBudgie]

I have three SL-1210mk2's and upgraded them with better cables and wiring and longer heavier counterweight for better tracking. The difference Is amazing. This Is why my Rega Planer 3 Is In It's box In the loft. Thanks for sharing.

[keithriddiford]

Great video mate, I watched this to decide If I should upgrade the wiring loom for my Stanton ST150 (known as the tech killer) I’ve decided to order the new wires on line because you have satisfied me that it is worth it.

My observation of your video, with what you are saying about the difference in bass between the 1200 and 1100A, is that I think there would be a factor of low frequency transfer from the environment of the room for the 1100, which would present as deeper but looser bass and in a way providing a bass boost. I say this because I have observed it when I have changed locations of turn tables relevant to my speakers, and noticed boost in bass with some turn tables, that turn into low frequency feed back when the volume of an amp is turned up. The 1200 is designed to be played in a club where there is a pumping PA system staking the room. It’s key focus is to prevent bass feed back or loop from the environment to the needle.

If you experimented with a superior cartridge on each table, I think you would find that the bass would improve on the 1200, as that it is designed to be as neutral as possible and the better cartridge would improve the bass of the 1200, but show little improvement on the 1100, because it would be interfered with by environment, due to a different plinth structure.

[petercamacho]

i found you to be spot on on whar you said about cable make a huge difference in listening to my records ill keep watching keep the videos coming thanks

[KevinJStoll]

Thank you for the info on cables. I bought a set of Blue Jean cables for my Audio Tachnica AT-LP120XBT-USB turn table. What a big difference those cables made. My Bose speakers sound so much better now. That was the last thing I needed to do to my turntable to make it complete and bring it to the level I wanted in this turntable. I think I have roughly 600.00 in this set up with the upgrades I've done to the turntable. Thanks again man for your input and help. Peace and love, Kevin

[geraldford]

Would be nice to add RCA jacks on the 1200Mk2 instead of a fixed cable, so you could swap/upgrade as you wish

[donaldallison]

Nice to see you keeping the Technics SL-1200 running in great shape.

[normalman]

Nice system. And I love the stand the holds the turntable and electronics in the center and shows two album covers on the sides.

[albertfigueroa]

Have the technics sl 1100a for about 40 years and decided to get the technics 1210 m5g . Two because I dj. I noticed the same thing you did. I look on utube and ran into your video. I noticed you not only had the same problem but had the same turntable as me. What a coincidence. Anyway I'm getting rca jacks installed on mine. Thsnk you for your video it was helpful. I watched it 4 times and gave a like and so on.

[brainache]

Next video Deoxit/clean/polish all connections or change the RCA input connectors to something better. Makes a huge difference :)

[mikecampbell]

Talk about nostalgia. Back in the 70s and 80s a lot of audio dealers used Aja to demo their sound systems. I use an Aja remastered CD to show off my systems today.

[NickP]

You’re almost definitely hearing the difference in capacitance in those cables. Too much capacitance on certain MM carts via cables can make em sound harsh, but not enough can make them sound dull. It’s not just a matter of resistance, which you can obviously adjust on a decent phono pre. Not all MM carts sound best set at 47K. One of my decks is a 1200 MK5, which I’ve done a lot of upgrades and mods to over the years, and changing phono cables no doubt makes an audible difference. I’m glad you showed the difference between phono cables. AC and speaker cables are another situation, where the difference between them is usually more subtle that it’s often times difficult to tell any kind of difference if your system isn’t resolving enough, plus you need to know what to listen for. ✌️🎶🌝🔊👍

[digitaldowns]

5 minutes into your informative and interesting video.... you pulled out Avalon as a test record... that's when I went ahead and hit the subscribe button. I'm a working Dj and a fan of most genres... THAT record right there is probably in my personal top 5 of all time. Just dropping a comment of appreciation of your choice =)

[g.fortin]

I agree with you.. and add that the mat can also change it slightly. Yours were very similar so probably not a factor here.