I am adding a new rule. No help or questions answered unless it's related to the video and you are subscribed to the channel. It takes up to much time to reply and I am not free tech support.
Thank you for posting this. For years, my dad could never figure out why his 1200MK2 always had a loud hum. After watching this video, I opened it up and discovered the self ground mod was performed and 2 of the tonearm wires were solder bridged which caused the grounds of the phono leads to have a short circuit. The noise is gone and he couldn't have been happier.
People seem to think the Technics RCA Cables are cheap but there actually very good cables especially the Gold Plated ones on later Models. There very low capacitance which is what you need for the tonearm. Thanks for sharing the video.
thank you for this vid. i have a 1200 that i could not figure out why it would not play any sound. i took a chance to replace the leads and in about a 1hr 1/2 SUCCESS! for years my 1200 has been out of commission now id like to return to the classics.....lol, thank you so much.
13:43, before putting the cover back on, always set the arm base height all the way up to 6+ . This will ensure that you leave enough wire slack inside the arm cavity for the arm base to go up and down through it's full range.
It's been said already but I have to thank you again. So clear and straight forward I feel confident I can do this myself. Love the camera stand you have made and then you test it with the chic edit. You are my favourite nerd, this video has brought joy to so many people. Thank you.
@@jake5265 The ones I use in the video are by Pulse Audio www.pulse-audio.co.uk/product/pls00173/ I split them in half and use for two decks. They are as good as any others, I recently did a test of types and they show minimal difference.
I can’t believe my vintage Phillips 312 has only 3 screws holding the whole thing together! I got a kick out of watching you pull what seemed like 15 screws from the bottom lol! Good video, thanks!
Thanks for this, I removed the ground mod from a deck with this video. While I was in there I found that the pitch earth was connected to the right screw and not thr left as in this video so I rectified tbdt too. Thankyou
I don't know how they made that mistake when there is an available earth pad that was clearly visible and marked right next to the other wiring. It looks like these units are set up to make this mod easy. Thank you for showing this, this gets a sub from me.
Thanks for making this, I fitted a new cable this morning and it's all good. Ngl, was nervous, but followed to the letter, and did it. Really appreciated
That was great. I enjoy your explanations, they are clear and concise enough for me to believe I can make these repairs myself. Ok, Monkey see, Monkey do. But I can’t gain your knowledge of electronics without some college learning though? So I won’t delude myself, and I’ll just watch and enjoy. Thank you.
Great! This helped me a lot getting rid of a hum in a Lenco L830. Not sure whether it was a mod or just the original wiring setup for DIN connection but it also had that connection between the minus on the right channel (the green wire from the tonearm) and ground. After removing this ground link and adding a separate ground cable to the amp the hum was completely gone.
I am French: translated text: A thousand thanks for your expérience. Thanks to you, I would never have dared to take my 1200mk2 apart to do this job. I was also able to dismantle the variable speed drives. Well done !
Dude I could watch videos of you working on turntables all day :D This video has been coming up in my feed for years ( I think I searched for exactly this topic a while back ) I havent soldered for donkeys years, and tips on building up some skills with it? Seems like fucking it up could be catastrophic lol thanks for the vid bud! Hope you’re well
Hi there! First of all i wanted to say that i absolutely love your videos! Detailed and easy to undestand. I am texting you with a problem i have encountered and i cannot understand from where it comes. Recently i bought Technics sl1210 km2 with changed RCA, and later on i realized that one of the channels is louder than the other. Probably around 3,4 db. I noticed that while i was recording a set at home and saw that one of the channels was hitting lower that the other. I cross checked it with the master output from the mixer where it could also be seen that one of the led goes higher than the other. Just to make sure i opened ableton and run a plugin from Ozone, Imager and the signal tend to go to the left rather than stay in the middle. So until now i tried cleaning the tonearm tips as well as the catridge (nothing changed) i switched needles , mixer channels evetything basically and always one of the channels is louder. Then i ran a conductivity test with a multi meter and everything went fine there. So now i am lost and i dont know what to anymore. It appears like there is some resistence than fucks up one of the signals. Have you ever encountered something similar or have any idea of what can be the cause? Every small answer will be appreciated! Regards Grigor
HI, If you have checked all parts of the signal connection, cleaned the 4 brass dots and you see no difference in resistance the other option is the arm could be twisted in some way so the stylus is not sitting in the groove correctly.
Nice work. Thanks and I've used this video to help me with what to expect when doing a removable RCA mod and by what you've shown my instincts were right to keep the traditional grounding! I personally thought it was a can of worms that made no sense to me personally.
Great video. Never taken my 1210’s apart but I might now get round to changing that rca lead that works fine but is getting a little loose on the plug pin. Cheers
Good video there Lee - As an engineer too I have often been telling people its a bad idea to internally ground turntables. Chassis ground must be kept separate from the audio even if the screen is connected to mixer chassis (which creates the ideal earthed star point).
I did a quick test on my scope. with the internal ground mod and no cartridge connected you can see the noise on the RCA, A quick dab of the normal external ground and the noise goes away !.
Yep that makes perfect sense. The topology of a Technics turntable has a capacitance between the actual chassis ground and the audio which acts as a high pass filter thus eliminating the noise when the ground is separate. Connecting them together induces that noise on the audio irrespective of the fact that the audio shield may be connected to mixer chassis. Even worse when people try to 'mod' their turntables with external expensive switch mode power supplies, better known to us engineers as 'snake oil' :D. (the SMPS harmonics actually induce noise because the switching frequency is high enough to get through said capacitance)
A lot of people only use the technics 1200/1210 for DJing with Serato or other DVS software, so for the convenience the mod works well... where a little noise is not an issue with high level sync tone. But - wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
Thanks for this fine and verye informative video. I´ve been having this problem for a while now and haven´t used my beloved 1210 cause i thought it might cost a fortune to fix it. But with this video i think and hope that i can have it up an playing again soon, even though i´m not electrician.
Whether a ground mod causes issues really depends on what you're plugging it into. A lot of gear ties the RCA negative to ground right at the input anyway, so when you do the ground mod you're not really changing much--you're just moving the point where the two things are connected. I'm pretty sure basically all DJ mixers are this way. However, I'm certain that there are pocket preamps, or computer audio interfaces, or stereo receivers out there that run off of an isolated power supply or uses capacitive coupling, and that means that when you do this "ground mod" you are now connecting the tonearm body to something that isn't actually ground and thus you are no longer shielding the sensitive signal wires from the interference generated by the motor. You're absolutely right that it can cause issues and I personally would never do it because the convenience isn't worth it, but I don't think it can cause ground *loops*, as there isn't actually a loop created. I might be missing something though. One thing that I am curious about is whether you could replace that ground connection with a connection to mains earth via a grounded plug (I think there are turntables out there that do this from the factory). I don't know if anyone has tried it and I haven't thought it through but it seems like it might work. I suspect the turntable ground wire is an artifact of a time when companies were hesitant to make their product require a grounded outlet.
I recently started working with a local hire company and they have all 1210 models fitted with RCA mods and internally grounded. I talked at length with him about this and he says he never has ground loop problems and was happy to continue to use the internal ground mod of the RCA plate. I just wonder if they could use some new ISO transformer or something to earth via the mains and not introduce any hum, but why bother when a simple wire will do the trick. I have wondered if I can setup some test, but I also never had a ground loop at my workshop when I have so much stuff plugged in.
I don't think hum would be an issue. If you were "grounding" it to the neutral wire, then yes it could be as the neutral sits slightly above ground potential and its voltage is going to vary at 50/60 Hz. If you grounded the tonearm to mains earth, but still had the cartridge and such separate from that, there wouldn't be a ground loop either because the two aren't connected.
@@DJlegionuk I recently had a friend send a number of wav files for comparison didn't tell me what or why, i found that although slight there was dynamic difference in HF i fed this bak to him he told me on the two files i was comparing one was grounded the other was mod both same mixer / cart . I have used ground mod technics as my hire stock for years and unless it is specified from an operational perspective and with the difference be so slight i think mod is a good way to go for clubs with change overs and hire stock for ease. If ground wire goes then the deck needs service down time . Ive seen many ground wires snapped just from not being put in flight case correctly, so i think payoff unless rider specific is acceptable- at home / studio or fixed decks in nightclubs i advise the ground wire.
4 ปีที่แล้ว
I went ahead and did an internal grounding of one of my 1200's that I do strictly Archival work with. I based it off a Hitachi Direct Drive turntable I own that does an internal grounding right from the factory (early 80s) . It solidifed the notion of it being possible and without any added noise at all.. and on paper and with ears there is nothing introduced. I do have it plugged into a Mackie phono firewire mixer - but I do agree some older equipment or certain pre-amps built into some receivers could cause problems. I have never experimented with that as I have my own solution. Great comment!
4 ปีที่แล้ว
@@danbizaro869 Before I went ahead and did a ground mod, I did an extensive A/B test through the mixer I was plugging it into (mackie firewire u420d) to my computer making detailed analysis of the frequency and when that was pretty much a success it was confirmation I could use the internal ground mod in my situation.
I happened to have a Pio DJM800 mixer schematics on my desktop. Approx 15y ago i modded my SL1200MK2 (actually i just connected the ground into the plug at the end). Now on the Pio schematics i see exactly that the minuses coming from the phono input are connected together and directly to the ground. So for a DJ mixer setup the real difference is what happens to the cable along that 1-1,5 m, might not be any kind of dealbreaker unless lot of interference and current in cables is around (but that would be an issue anyway).
very elegant work , how about adding an rca adaptor (as newer models have) instead of cables, therefore users can use new rca cables anytime they want.
I've got a 1200 that I've owned since the 1980's (had 2 at one point but sold one to a buddy). The ground wire in parallel with the signal cable has always bothered me from an aesthetic perspective. I noticed that the AC cable on the unit in the video had a 3-prong connector, so I'm wondering if you could connect the "Earth" point on the turntable to the Earth conductor in the AC cable and eliminate the single ground wire that parallels the signal cable.
Hello, I need help fixing the anti-skate. When inset the anti-skate to 0 the arm only goes half way to the center. Also there is a rattle which seems to be coming from the gimbal
@DJ Legion, where can I buy wire snips/strippers like the one you used at 10:10 in the video? I've never seen any like those and they seem really convenient.
Had one interesting case last year - one SL-1200mk2 had a ground loop even after adding a ground wire back. As it came and was gone every now and then, could not find a reason. Best guess would have probably been faulty wires within the tonearm .
Excellent presentation! Thank you. I did change my RCA cable because I used to get monophonic signal but unfortunately now it doesn't work at all. Instead I get an annoying noise in my speakers and no music at all. Could it be that I haven't done the tinning of the wires correctly? I mean the part 10.34 of your presentation, I left the two side parts half without tinning and I only tinned the edges to make the connection. Could the naked part of the wires make that noise? Finally, what would be the result if I do not place an earthing wire? Thank you very much in advance!
Super helpful. Any info on how to test that faulty RCAs are the problem using a multimeter? I am getting no audio signal from my (correction) *right* channel and I'd like to figure out if the issue is the headshell connection, tonearm or the RCA. Cheers
yes just measure the reistance from the end of the RCA to either the brass dot in the end of the tonearm or to the small connecting wires of the headshell (if you have them) it should be close to 0 ohm as possible.
Greetings from France Dj Legion, your videos are the most professional and helpful tutorials ever ! I'm going to replace my RCA cables, just ordered Pulse audio cables as you recommended but I can't find the earth cable reference, do you recommend any particulary one ?
Hi I’m curious to know , when rca plugs go bad is it necessary to change the rca wire along with the rca plugs or can you cut the old rca plugs and solder better quality rca plugs and not replace the old rca cable ?
So... the two outer lines, next to the left and right channels, are the cable's shielding? Are there cables with seperated shielding and and extra ground wire inside? Thanks for the video. Cheers!
I've just come to use my decks and the white side of the RCA's is only producing a bit of sound. I've checked the mixer to make sure it isn't one of the sockets and it is definitely the RCA. I presume the only way to fix this is to replace the whole lead?
check the 4 dots in the end of the tone arm and make sure they are clean. Swap the stylus if you have a spare and if it still has the problem look to swap the leads.
Great video and explanation! Thanks. I have a ground problem. I have a Dual 505-2 and when I connect the ground wire to the amp, the right channel cuts out. I presume the right channel is shorted to the arm or chassis somewhere. Do you have any suggestions of what I should look for?
Hi, so I don't know how that turntable works and if it has any circuit for the audio. on a Technics it's just a simple audio path from the stylus to the rca leads. check the stylus, check the connection at the end of the tone arm and check the leads. make sure it has no short circuits at any point.
I did find that the ground and the red lead are not an open circuit (there is some resistance; it does not read as a short circuit). The other three leads are open circuits. At this point I cannot figure out how to get inside the Dual 505-2 to see what is going on. Thanks again!
@@jeffstake478 if the stylus is connected you will have some readings on the two pairs that are for the left and the right so make sure to test with that removed. Have you tried a 2nd or new stylus - cartridge ?
@@DJlegionuk Thanks. Yes, after getting finite resistance, I figured that out and took out the headshell. I still get finite resistance between red and ground. Before I started all of this, I replaced the cartridge, thinking that it was at fault, only to find the same problem. Then I tested all of the leads for continuity, and upon finding continuity I thought the problem was fixed. Accidentally, I hooked up the leads first and was delighted to hear sound from both channels along with hum and buzz. Then as I touched the ground to the amp to eliminate the noise, the right channel went out and I realized that all of my earlier work was looking for an open lead when what I had was a short between the red and ground. I have now managed to get inside the 'table and the next step will be to try to where the short is. However, I hesitate to call it a short because it does not read as a short so I'm not sure exactly what I am looking for.
Unless they have changed this in recent years, I actually know of a well respected turntable and tone arm manufacturer catering to the audiophile market whose tonearm wiring still uses one negative-signal lead to make an "earth ground" to the tonearm: Rega. I have modified a couple of Rega arms for lower hum by adding a 5th wire to ground the arm, making sure that the arm wand and base get their own ground, completely separate from the audio signal. It's not an easy thing to do and not something you want to do if you've had too much coffee or beer because one careless tug can do a lot of damage to those fragile wires!
Hi Lee, I am located in the USA , and know this is a old video, and the RCA cable you recommend is older. Can you recommend the best RCA audio cable to use that is current 2022, as I want to exchange and replace the RCA audio cables attached to my Technics SL 1200 MK2 turtables. Thanks
I still use the same Pulse Audio ones in the video. I did another video testing a few and unless you're an expert it's hard to tell the difference. I would just use the original if you can get them the system is designed for it.
Hi, nice vid mate. I have a question for you. I've done what you've done here now, undone my internal grounding mod, but after making a few efforts, there's still the slightest buzz. I think the replacement RCA ground wire (non-Technics) I bought online isn't doing a good enough job of grounding. Maybe, but I wanted to rule out a few things. --- At 5:58 you've cut the old RCA ground wire where it joins the tonearm ground wire, and the remnant piece of the old RCA ground wire is just sticking out. Might that be causing some buzz?--- Another question: why not solder the new RCA ground wire together with the tonearm ground wire as it came in the factory? Otherwise just a general note for all: I've had to do this a couple of times now to get it better each time. Wire quality, soldering job quailty, it has made a difference. It's not the mixer or tonearm per se. Thanks again.
HI, if you think the ground is not good enough measure the resistance to be sure. If you replaced it and you still have buzz I would be looking at the other end of the audio path so from the PCB to the brass dots in the tone arm. The ground actually goes down the silver tube and is connected to the metal also at the end of the tone arm. make sure the brass dots and inside the end are clean, this can also make it buzz.
Cheers for your helpful reply so I've actually had some joy with taking the ground wire off the PCB and joining it up with the tone arm ground wire on that tiny piece of metal with the little ring on one end, kind of a triangle/cone shape. Also, your advice about RCA gauge was spot on because a smaller RCA fit better with the new ground wire in the strain relief. Thanks again for the brilliant channel ! Enjoyed the one comparing RCAs.
Hello, thanks for this detailed video. I'm having a humming problem with my 1210 so i opened it up and noticed that the ground cable from the tonearm was not soldered onto the board. So I soldered it back on and the hum is still there. No change at all. When I put the cable onto the RCA ground the hum disappears. Any idea what the problem might be? It looks like some previous owner tried to mod it or something.
Thanks so much for the reply. Actually the ground cable from the machine was just not working. Replacing it did the job. Too bad I desoldered all the audio cables before realizing it.. Being a newbie at soldering I think I damaged one of the solder joints when soldering them back so I need to get a new RCA board now, well well
I am adding a new rule. No help or questions answered unless it's related to the video and you are subscribed to the channel. It takes up to much time to reply and I am not free tech support.
Thank you for posting this. For years, my dad could never figure out why his 1200MK2 always had a loud hum. After watching this video, I opened it up and discovered the self ground mod was performed and 2 of the tonearm wires were solder bridged which caused the grounds of the phono leads to have a short circuit. The noise is gone and he couldn't have been happier.
People seem to think the Technics RCA Cables are cheap but there actually very good cables especially the Gold Plated ones on later Models. There very low capacitance which is what you need for the tonearm. Thanks for sharing the video.
I need to install longer RCA cables and a longer ground lead (5 feet) on my SL1200 and now I have my answers. Excellent video!
thank you for this vid. i have a 1200 that i could not figure out why it would not play any sound. i took a chance to replace the leads and in about a 1hr 1/2 SUCCESS! for years my 1200 has been out of commission
now id like to return to the classics.....lol, thank you so much.
13:43, before putting the cover back on, always set the arm base height all the way up to 6+ . This will ensure that you leave enough wire slack inside the arm cavity for the arm base to go up and down through it's full range.
Vta
It's been said already but I have to thank you again. So clear and straight forward I feel confident I can do this myself. Love the camera stand you have made and then you test it with the chic edit. You are my favourite nerd, this video has brought joy to so many people. Thank you.
I had no idea how much this edit was worth until someone told me like £30 at one point. I just needed a single sided record for testing.
@@DJlegionuk What RCA cables would you reccomend Lee?
@@jake5265 The ones I use in the video are by Pulse Audio www.pulse-audio.co.uk/product/pls00173/
I split them in half and use for two decks. They are as good as any others, I recently did a test of types and they show minimal difference.
@@DJlegionuk nice, thank you.
I can’t believe my vintage Phillips 312 has only 3 screws holding the whole thing together! I got a kick out of watching you pull what seemed like 15 screws from the bottom lol! Good video, thanks!
They really are built like tanks and it's all to cut back on vibration working through the deck in a loud environment.
Thanks for this, I removed the ground mod from a deck with this video. While I was in there I found that the pitch earth was connected to the right screw and not thr left as in this video so I rectified tbdt too. Thankyou
I don't know how they made that mistake when there is an available earth pad that was clearly visible and marked right next to the other wiring. It looks like these units are set up to make this mod easy.
Thank you for showing this, this gets a sub from me.
No, they didn't connect the ground/earth wire to the wrong pad, they connected the lead from the rca TO the earth ground. "Internal ground", lol
Thanks, for your time and efforts in showing us! Excellent recorded !! THANKS
This is the most comprehensive and clear vid I’ve seen. Thank you very much I’m going to attempt this tomorrow
Great videos. Very helpful. Also loved the one with the different RCA leads. We'll done. Thanks mate.
Thanks for making this, I fitted a new cable this morning and it's all good. Ngl, was nervous, but followed to the letter, and did it. Really appreciated
Thank god theres people like you who fix these
Great video, thanks for sharing. Cleared up my doubts about internally grounding!
Thank you for this video, just did it and works fine - finally noise is gone and both channels have the same level! Great explanation.
Extremely informative & excellent presentation. 👍👍
Great video you make it seem so simple. Going to tackle my pair of Tech's now, many thanks Lee, wish me luck! 🤞
good luck :)
DJ Ranx R u still lookin4 the parts😂
Hi Lee, Excellent video sir. A soldering iron is being purchased asap. Thank you for the info. :-)
Thanks. I just needed to see how the rca cable plastic piece went back together. Took it apart last week and forgot how it went.
That was great. I enjoy your explanations, they are clear and concise enough for me to believe I can make these repairs myself. Ok, Monkey see, Monkey do. But I can’t gain your knowledge of electronics without some college learning though? So I won’t delude myself, and I’ll just watch and enjoy. Thank you.
Great vid...topped off with a Terje's edit of Chic.
Great! This helped me a lot getting rid of a hum in a Lenco L830. Not sure whether it was a mod or just the original wiring setup for DIN connection but it also had that connection between the minus on the right channel (the green wire from the tonearm) and ground. After removing this ground link and adding a separate ground cable to the amp the hum was completely gone.
I am French: translated text:
A thousand thanks for your expérience. Thanks to you, I would never have dared to take my 1200mk2 apart to do this job. I was also able to dismantle the variable speed drives. Well done !
Patrick Malbos 😂I wouldn't touch my decks if I had a gun2 my head after watching this😂
Dude I could watch videos of you working on turntables all day :D This video has been coming up in my feed for years ( I think I searched for exactly this topic a while back ) I havent soldered for donkeys years, and tips on building up some skills with it? Seems like fucking it up could be catastrophic lol thanks for the vid bud! Hope you’re well
Thank you sir, for the information, and for using camera stands. Brilliant.
Top quality info, editing, and camera work! Well done.
Great vid, very well explained and described, have to replace the RCA and ground wire and feel much more confident after watching this, thanks dude..!
Hi there!
First of all i wanted to say that i absolutely love your videos! Detailed and easy to undestand.
I am texting you with a problem i have encountered and i cannot understand from where it comes.
Recently i bought Technics sl1210 km2 with changed RCA, and later on i realized that one of the channels is louder than the other. Probably around 3,4 db. I noticed that while i was recording a set at home and saw that one of the channels was hitting lower that the other. I cross checked it with the master output from the mixer where it could also be seen that one of the led goes higher than the other. Just to make sure i opened ableton and run a plugin from Ozone, Imager and the signal tend to go to the left rather than stay in the middle.
So until now i tried cleaning the tonearm tips as well as the catridge (nothing changed) i switched needles , mixer channels evetything basically and always one of the channels is louder. Then i ran a conductivity test with a multi meter and everything went fine there.
So now i am lost and i dont know what to anymore. It appears like there is some resistence than fucks up one of the signals.
Have you ever encountered something similar or have any idea of what can be the cause?
Every small answer will be appreciated!
Regards
Grigor
HI, If you have checked all parts of the signal connection, cleaned the 4 brass dots and you see no difference in resistance the other option is the arm could be twisted in some way so the stylus is not sitting in the groove correctly.
@@DJlegionuk Thank you for the quick reply. Do you know how i can know that for sure, without having to buy an replecment for a 100 bucks?
@@undone7107 I only have your word that all the things you tested are actually correct so I can only guess at what is left.
nice Moodymann track :) good choise
thanks for the video
Nice work. Thanks and I've used this video to help me with what to expect when doing a removable RCA mod and by what you've shown my instincts were right to keep the traditional grounding! I personally thought it was a can of worms that made no sense to me personally.
I have installed RCA plates for a local hire company and he tells me he has never had a problem with them so if he is happy, I am happy.
Great video. Never taken my 1210’s apart but I might now get round to changing that rca lead that works fine but is getting a little loose on the plug pin. Cheers
That was great to watch. Very informative too. Thank you.
Good video there Lee - As an engineer too I have often been telling people its a bad idea to internally ground turntables. Chassis ground must be kept separate from the audio even if the screen is connected to mixer chassis (which creates the ideal earthed star point).
I did a quick test on my scope. with the internal ground mod and no cartridge connected you can see the noise on the RCA, A quick dab of the normal external ground and the noise goes away !.
Yep that makes perfect sense. The topology of a Technics turntable has a capacitance between the actual chassis ground and the audio which acts as a high pass filter thus eliminating the noise when the ground is separate. Connecting them together induces that noise on the audio irrespective of the fact that the audio shield may be connected to mixer chassis.
Even worse when people try to 'mod' their turntables with external expensive switch mode power supplies, better known to us engineers as 'snake oil' :D. (the SMPS harmonics actually induce noise because the switching frequency is high enough to get through said capacitance)
A lot of people only use the technics 1200/1210 for DJing with Serato or other DVS software, so for the convenience the mod works well... where a little noise is not an issue with high level sync tone. But - wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
Thank you for this video, from beginning to end (about anti skip, to ground and good wires) I haven't tried it yet. Will soon though. Thanks
Fair play... I've only been dealing with a dodgy lead for about 16 years. Replaced today
Great video DJ legion. Well presented. Don’t need to look at any others on this subject either 👍🏾
Superb! Great skills and workmanship. Cheers.
Tops it off with some KDJ. Nice one, thanks from Vancouver
Very pro - thanks for taking the time to show how it's done - good wishes - thank you.
if you ever replace a CDJ 100s Lens please make a video there is none on the internet! Love your technics repair videos man!
Thanks for this fine and verye informative video. I´ve been having this problem for a while now and haven´t used my beloved 1210 cause i thought it might cost a fortune to fix it. But with this video i think and hope that i can have it up an playing again soon, even though i´m not electrician.
I am not deep into electrical stuff but I did the opposite operation and it solves my noise problem. So, yeah, thanks a lot! :-)
Excellent vid mate
Great video. I have a tone arm issue, and an earth issue on both. Will be ripping these bad boys open and try this out.
have you seen my tone arm video ?
If this is really your first video I'd have to say Very Nice Job.
It was the first one I made any effort over how I filmed it.
excellent information and technique.. thanks for sharing.
What a wonderful and helpful video. So it looks like you highly recommend not doing a mod that integrates the ground into the RCA cables.
Whether a ground mod causes issues really depends on what you're plugging it into. A lot of gear ties the RCA negative to ground right at the input anyway, so when you do the ground mod you're not really changing much--you're just moving the point where the two things are connected. I'm pretty sure basically all DJ mixers are this way.
However, I'm certain that there are pocket preamps, or computer audio interfaces, or stereo receivers out there that run off of an isolated power supply or uses capacitive coupling, and that means that when you do this "ground mod" you are now connecting the tonearm body to something that isn't actually ground and thus you are no longer shielding the sensitive signal wires from the interference generated by the motor.
You're absolutely right that it can cause issues and I personally would never do it because the convenience isn't worth it, but I don't think it can cause ground *loops*, as there isn't actually a loop created. I might be missing something though.
One thing that I am curious about is whether you could replace that ground connection with a connection to mains earth via a grounded plug (I think there are turntables out there that do this from the factory). I don't know if anyone has tried it and I haven't thought it through but it seems like it might work. I suspect the turntable ground wire is an artifact of a time when companies were hesitant to make their product require a grounded outlet.
I recently started working with a local hire company and they have all 1210 models fitted with RCA mods and internally grounded. I talked at length with him about this and he says he never has ground loop problems and was happy to continue to use the internal ground mod of the RCA plate. I just wonder if they could use some new ISO transformer or something to earth via the mains and not introduce any hum, but why bother when a simple wire will do the trick. I have wondered if I can setup some test, but I also never had a ground loop at my workshop when I have so much stuff plugged in.
I don't think hum would be an issue. If you were "grounding" it to the neutral wire, then yes it could be as the neutral sits slightly above ground potential and its voltage is going to vary at 50/60 Hz.
If you grounded the tonearm to mains earth, but still had the cartridge and such separate from that, there wouldn't be a ground loop either because the two aren't connected.
@@DJlegionuk I recently had a friend send a number of wav files for comparison didn't tell me what or why, i found that although slight there was dynamic difference in HF i fed this bak to him he told me on the two files i was comparing one was grounded the other was mod both same mixer / cart . I have used ground mod technics as my hire stock for years and unless it is specified from an operational perspective and with the difference be so slight i think mod is a good way to go for clubs with change overs and hire stock for ease. If ground wire goes then the deck needs service down time . Ive seen many ground wires snapped just from not being put in flight case correctly, so i think payoff unless rider specific is acceptable- at home / studio or fixed decks in nightclubs i advise the ground wire.
I went ahead and did an internal grounding of one of my 1200's that I do strictly Archival work with. I based it off a Hitachi Direct Drive turntable I own that does an internal grounding right from the factory (early 80s) . It solidifed the notion of it being possible and without any added noise at all.. and on paper and with ears there is nothing introduced. I do have it plugged into a Mackie phono firewire mixer - but I do agree some older equipment or certain pre-amps built into some receivers could cause problems. I have never experimented with that as I have my own solution. Great comment!
@@danbizaro869 Before I went ahead and did a ground mod, I did an extensive A/B test through the mixer I was plugging it into (mackie firewire u420d) to my computer making detailed analysis of the frequency and when that was pretty much a success it was confirmation I could use the internal ground mod in my situation.
I happened to have a Pio DJM800 mixer schematics on my desktop. Approx 15y ago i modded my SL1200MK2 (actually i just connected the ground into the plug at the end). Now on the Pio schematics i see exactly that the minuses coming from the phono input are connected together and directly to the ground. So for a DJ mixer setup the real difference is what happens to the cable along that 1-1,5 m, might not be any kind of dealbreaker unless lot of interference and current in cables is around (but that would be an issue anyway).
great vid, thanks for your time ! was able to do it myself, it works perfectly. thanks
Great video and explanations, thanks for your time and effort!
Beautiful! I love to watch someone who knows what he's doing!
Great multiple finger work when tinning!
Great this way looks really simple thank you for your time 🙏
great video. straight to the point and simple. thanks
Thanks :)
Dont know why you were so worried, you did good. Clear speech, good camera work, made it seem simple(well it is really lol)
Thank you man, this was a godsend.
very elegant work , how about adding an rca adaptor (as newer models have) instead of cables, therefore users can use new rca cables anytime they want.
I've got a 1200 that I've owned since the 1980's (had 2 at one point but sold one to a buddy). The ground wire in parallel with the signal cable has always bothered me from an aesthetic perspective. I noticed that the AC cable on the unit in the video had a 3-prong connector, so I'm wondering if you could connect the "Earth" point on the turntable to the Earth conductor in the AC cable and eliminate the single ground wire that parallels the signal cable.
Brilliant video mate!
wonderful video! thank you. what would you recommend for the ground wire? didn't see it in the comments and in the description. thank you :)
Nice lesson sir ! Thank you !
Thankyou so much for this video very detail .
Great video, easy to follow, Thanks :)
Well done, thanks for th recording! FR
It helped me a lot to change the RCAcable successfully (today) with almost no fear to do something wrong. and I made it, thanks again Phil! FR
It has always eluded me why anyone would want to remove earth; its there for a reason.
I’ve tried several times to replace the RCA cable on my SL 1500. Following your teaching. At the end I get a buzz. Why?
Hello, I need help fixing the anti-skate. When inset the anti-skate to 0 the arm only goes half way to the center. Also there is a rattle which seems to be coming from the gimbal
@DJ Legion, where can I buy wire snips/strippers like the one you used at 10:10 in the video? I've never seen any like those and they seem really convenient.
www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-20851-Wire-Stripper-Cutter/dp/B0077LGOG4/ref=sr_1_91?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1546417124&sr=1-91&keywords=wire+stripper
they are ok, but do not last very long, I moved over to the ones that pull apart at the top and are a lot better
Great video. Learnt a lot, thank you. 👍
Had one interesting case last year - one SL-1200mk2 had a ground loop even after adding a ground wire back. As it came and was gone every now and then, could not find a reason. Best guess would have probably been faulty wires within the tonearm .
What size cable ties do you use to secure the cables?
What is the brand of the black needle nose pliers used to cut the ground wire in the video??
sorry I don't remember, I bet it was something in a cheap set or from maplins.
So is that why i may be getting like static when i put a record on or lift it off
This video was excellent!!!!
Thanks wayne.
what kind of automatic screwdriver you are using to unscrew the base of the turntable?
Just one question? How thick is the ground wire?
Excellent presentation! Thank you. I did change my RCA cable because I used to get monophonic signal but unfortunately now it doesn't work at all. Instead I get an annoying noise in my speakers and no music at all. Could it be that I haven't done the tinning of the wires correctly? I mean the part 10.34 of your presentation, I left the two side parts half without tinning and I only tinned the edges to make the connection. Could the naked part of the wires make that noise? Finally, what would be the result if I do not place an earthing wire? Thank you very much in advance!
this video just saved my life!!! thanks so much!!!
Super helpful. Any info on how to test that faulty RCAs are the problem using a multimeter? I am getting no audio signal from my (correction) *right* channel and I'd like to figure out if the issue is the headshell connection, tonearm or the RCA. Cheers
yes just measure the reistance from the end of the RCA to either the brass dot in the end of the tonearm or to the small connecting wires of the headshell (if you have them) it should be close to 0 ohm as possible.
Great video!
Greetings from France Dj Legion, your videos are the most professional and helpful tutorials ever !
I'm going to replace my RCA cables, just ordered Pulse audio cables as you recommended but I can't find the earth cable reference, do you recommend any particulary one ?
HI, Thank you :) at the moment i use 7/0.2mm black wire and none insulated spade terminals, but not sure of the part no.
Hi I’m curious to know , when rca plugs go bad is it necessary to change the rca wire along with the rca plugs or can you cut the old rca plugs and solder better quality rca plugs and not replace the old rca cable ?
you can do what ever you want, I just find unless you use something like neutrik they don't last very long and pull apart.
You rarely ever need to change the whole wire out . Find some really good plugs and just switch out the plugs ! 👍
So... the two outer lines, next to the left and right channels, are the cable's shielding? Are there cables with seperated shielding and and extra ground wire inside? Thanks for the video. Cheers!
I've just come to use my decks and the white side of the RCA's is only producing a bit of sound. I've checked the mixer to make sure it isn't one of the sockets and it is definitely the RCA. I presume the only way to fix this is to replace the whole lead?
check the 4 dots in the end of the tone arm and make sure they are clean. Swap the stylus if you have a spare and if it still has the problem look to swap the leads.
@@DJlegionuk Great thanks for your help....is it best just to clean with a q tip & alcohol?
@@drubber007 You can try and if that does not work a pencil with an eraser, but then you would see dark spots on them before.
@@DJlegionuk OK thanks again
How do you internally ground it correctly?
great video thank you i will be doing this tomorrow
kenny dixon jr was nice surprise in the end
Great video and explanation! Thanks. I have a ground problem. I have a Dual 505-2 and when I connect the ground wire to the amp, the right channel cuts out. I presume the right channel is shorted to the arm or chassis somewhere. Do you have any suggestions of what I should look for?
Hi, so I don't know how that turntable works and if it has any circuit for the audio. on a Technics it's just a simple audio path from the stylus to the rca leads. check the stylus, check the connection at the end of the tone arm and check the leads. make sure it has no short circuits at any point.
@@DJlegionuk Many thanks for the quick reply!
I did find that the ground and the red lead are not an open circuit (there is some resistance; it does not read as a short circuit). The other three leads are open circuits. At this point I cannot figure out how to get inside the Dual 505-2 to see what is going on. Thanks again!
@@jeffstake478 if the stylus is connected you will have some readings on the two pairs that are for the left and the right so make sure to test with that removed. Have you tried a 2nd or new stylus - cartridge ?
@@DJlegionuk Thanks. Yes, after getting finite resistance, I figured that out and took out the headshell. I still get finite resistance between red and ground. Before I started all of this, I replaced the cartridge, thinking that it was at fault, only to find the same problem. Then I tested all of the leads for continuity, and upon finding continuity I thought the problem was fixed. Accidentally, I hooked up the leads first and was delighted to hear sound from both channels along with hum and buzz. Then as I touched the ground to the amp to eliminate the noise, the right channel went out and I realized that all of my earlier work was looking for an open lead when what I had was a short between the red and ground. I have now managed to get inside the 'table and the next step will be to try to where the short is. However, I hesitate to call it a short because it does not read as a short so I'm not sure exactly what I am looking for.
Unless they have changed this in recent years, I actually know of a well respected turntable and tone arm manufacturer catering to the audiophile market whose tonearm wiring still uses one negative-signal lead to make an "earth ground" to the tonearm: Rega. I have modified a couple of Rega arms for lower hum by adding a 5th wire to ground the arm, making sure that the arm wand and base get their own ground, completely separate from the audio signal. It's not an easy thing to do and not something you want to do if you've had too much coffee or beer because one careless tug can do a lot of damage to those fragile wires!
Hi Lee, I am located in the USA , and know this is a old video, and the RCA cable you recommend is older. Can you recommend the best RCA audio cable to use that is current 2022, as I want to exchange and replace the RCA audio cables attached to my Technics SL 1200 MK2 turtables. Thanks
I still use the same Pulse Audio ones in the video. I did another video testing a few and unless you're an expert it's hard to tell the difference. I would just use the original if you can get them the system is designed for it.
I put a small alligator clip on my ground. It works perfectly and just clamps onto ground spindles or right onto the equipment chassis'.
What are the strippers u used for the phone inner cores? Not seen them b4?
Phono
Great video by the way
I just saw this and I think you did an awesome job!
Hi, nice vid mate. I have a question for you.
I've done what you've done here now, undone my internal grounding mod, but after making a few efforts, there's still the slightest buzz. I think the replacement RCA ground wire (non-Technics) I bought online isn't doing a good enough job of grounding. Maybe, but I wanted to rule out a few things.
--- At 5:58 you've cut the old RCA ground wire where it joins the tonearm ground wire, and the remnant piece of the old RCA ground wire is just sticking out. Might that be causing some buzz?--- Another question: why not solder the new RCA ground wire together with the tonearm ground wire as it came in the factory?
Otherwise just a general note for all: I've had to do this a couple of times now to get it better each time. Wire quality, soldering job quailty, it has made a difference. It's not the mixer or tonearm per se. Thanks again.
HI, if you think the ground is not good enough measure the resistance to be sure. If you replaced it and you still have buzz I would be looking at the other end of the audio path so from the PCB to the brass dots in the tone arm. The ground actually goes down the silver tube and is connected to the metal also at the end of the tone arm. make sure the brass dots and inside the end are clean, this can also make it buzz.
Cheers for your helpful reply so I've actually had some joy with taking the ground wire off the PCB and joining it up with the tone arm ground wire on that tiny piece of metal with the little ring on one end, kind of a triangle/cone shape. Also, your advice about RCA gauge was spot on because a smaller RCA fit better with the new ground wire in the strain relief.
Thanks again for the brilliant channel ! Enjoyed the one comparing RCAs.
WE DONT USED THAT GROUND CABLE ANYMORE. WE DO INGROUND INSTEAD. NICE VISUAL EFFECT ON THE PROCEDURE.
Hello, thanks for this detailed video. I'm having a humming problem with my 1210 so i opened it up and noticed that the ground cable from the tonearm was not soldered onto the board. So I soldered it back on and the hum is still there. No change at all. When I put the cable onto the RCA ground the hum disappears. Any idea what the problem might be? It looks like some previous owner tried to mod it or something.
i would look at the 4 brass dots in the end of the tone arm I bet they need cleaning.
Thanks so much for the reply. Actually the ground cable from the machine was just not working. Replacing it did the job. Too bad I desoldered all the audio cables before realizing it.. Being a newbie at soldering I think I damaged one of the solder joints when soldering them back so I need to get a new RCA board now, well well
Great Video..Thanks for the help!