Author Topic: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.  (Read 6738 times)

SunnyDaze

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New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« on: June 06, 2010, 12:12:41 AM »
I LOVE my Yamaha YP-450. It's as heavy as my mom's Cordoba (without the rust), it's built like my dad's Harley (without the oil leaks), and it's as easy to work on as my mountain bike. The only thing I didn't love about the machine was the rinky-dink 1970ish interconnects.

I had a 3 foot set of Monster Cable 400's laying around. I couldn't very well cut the grass, go fishing, or mountain biking in this weather. Today, I decided to chop those Monster Cables up and make them the new interconnects on my YP-450.

It went smooth. Here are a few pics, with some minor details describing the mods that had to be done in order to accommodate the larger diameter cabling.



As you can see above, I removed the original interconnects by heating up the old solder. I stripped the coating off of the Monster Cables to find that they had a 3rd set of wire strands inside, which acted as the conductor to channel any interference picked up by the shielding to ground. I then attached the Monster Cables via solder, making sure to ground the cable shielding. Also, the ground wire itself was paper thin and brittle, so I replaced it with 14ga speaker cable.



I had to modify the protective housing that shields the tonearm wiring by bending it outward. I could have ground it down and filed off the sharp edges, but, eh. I saw that as being redundant.



The rear panel was channeled for the original cables. I enlarged the channel using a round file. The Monster Cables and the ground wire fit snugly.



"Home, home again..."
« Last Edit: June 06, 2010, 12:23:38 AM by SunnyDaze »

SunnyDaze

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2010, 03:29:22 AM »
I can definitely tell a difference over the third century old oxidized 20-some gauge stock units. I'm hearing tape hiss on Disraeli Gears. I'm kinda blown away.

My next goal is to rewire the tonearm. Any advice?

Offline Kingman

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2010, 07:16:13 AM »
It appears that is a common problem for all old TT's with built in interconnects usually of the low grade kind. Your upgrade looks great.  8) 8) 8)
IN REALITY IT ONLY MATTERS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE TO YOU!!!!!

bmwr75

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2010, 08:52:51 AM »
What the fractal??!! 

Nice job.   ;D

Offline rgpit

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2010, 10:39:01 AM »
Nice work!

Ron
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Offline mikey813

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2010, 10:45:21 AM »
Great job.  ;D ;D ;D
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Offline Falcon

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2010, 01:14:13 PM »
Nice job.

SunnyDaze

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2010, 04:52:56 PM »
Thanks guys. The outcome was definitely worth the time and effort.

The plastic insulation on the old interconnects was cracking and beginning to disintegrate. This upgrade was probably a tad overdue.

Now if I only had the guts to recap my 504...



Offline schwarcw

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2010, 10:56:25 PM »
SD,

This thread has piqued my interest since I have a YP-800 with a Grace tone arm.  It also has a big heavy platter, nice thick Lexan cover and sound very nice.  I've looked at my tonearm base.  It has a DIN five pin connector, so it's different than yours.  Alos, you TT feet don't look like original Yamaha.  Have you put on some after market fee?

Real nice job!  Do you hear any difference in the sound???  If so, what?

Regards,

Carl
Carl

SunnyDaze

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Re: New interconnects for my old Yamaha TT.
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2010, 11:43:52 PM »
Actually, I was given this table by a friend whose wife was 8 months pregnant and wanted everything that wasn't baby or busniess related gone ASAP. He got it from his aunt, she bought it new. When I got it, the bearings were VERY tight. I took apart the spindle mechanism and cleaned and lubed the internals. It needed a new belt, and a headshell / cartridge. It has minimal features, and the motor pulls like an ox.

Can you send me a picture of your connector? I'd like to see that. The feet are, as far as I know, what came on there. I am not opposed to upgrading them. That's for sure.

I do notice a difference. I can't really explain it (maybe it's all in my noggin)? I think the best word to describe it would be presence. Everything is more "there". Also, the low end extension is greater. The heartbeats at the beginning of Dark Side of the Moon come out of the subwoofer just as snappy as they do on CD, only with that vinyl warmth. I even found myself turning the sub off on a few albums. For the amount of time and resources that went into the job, I'm very happy with the outcome.

Here are a few shots from the front.