top of page

AnalogMagik Tonearm 

Repair / Rebuild / Rewire Service

SME II 1.jpg

Why Rewire a Tonearm?

Our philosophy in Phono Cable design is to have the lowest number of connections from the headshell clips to RCA output, which means the best phono cable is a direct run of wire from clips to output.    A Headshell and/or a DIN connection is a huge compromise.    A typical tonearm with SME headshell to a DIN connector will have 11 connections:

  1. Cartridge Wires to Pin (Solder Joint)

  2. Cartridge Pinouts to Headshell Clips

  3. Headshell Clips to Wire (Solder Joint)

  4. Wires to Clips again (Solder Joint)

  5. Clips to Pins on SME Headshell

  6. Pins to Internal Wiring (Solder Joint)

  7. Internal Wiring to DIN Pins (Solder Joint)

  8. Din Pins to Din Pins (Spring Loaded contact)

  9. Din Pins to DIN connector Clip

  10. Din clips to Phono cable wire

  11. Phono Cable Wire to RCA Connector

 

 

Each of these connections is detrimental to the sound and greatly increases the resistance of your cable.

We believe you can achieve a much higher level of performance by rewiring your tonearm to have one single wire from Cartridge Clips to RCA Output.

A direct wire will outperform any

ultra-expensive top of the line

DIN to RCA phono cable.

 

EMAIL US to inquire about this service.   

 

AnalogMagik has rebuilt or rewired over a hundred tonearms.

Feel free to look through some examples of our tonearm cable rewiring and rebuilds:

  1. SME 3012 Version 1 Rewire / Restoration / Rebuild

  2. Glanz MH-124S Direct Wire 

  3. Fidelity Research FR-64S and FR-66S Complete Restoration

  4. Supreme Analog Tangenta Rewire

  5. DaVinci Grandezza Repepair / Rewire

  6. Acoustical System Axiom, and Axiom Anniversary

  7. Schroder Reference

  8. Rossner & Sohn S1.2

  9. Reed 3P, 3Q, & 2A

  10. SME 3012 Gold Special Edition 9" and 12" Rewire and Repair

  11. SME 3012 Version 2 Rewire and Repair

  12. DaVinci Master Reference Virtu

  13. Schroder CB or Artemis Labs TA-1 (Same Tonearm)

  14. Triplanar

  15. Many More.....................

Our Tonearm cable rebuild usually includes a rewiring service and will include 1.25m of AnalogMagik Tonearm wire from Headshell Clips to RCA Output.

Every rewire takes anywhere from 6 to 48 hours.   It is a labor-intensive microscopic surgery in all instances. Not every tonearm can be wired, and some may require extra work.   Longer lengths are also available.  Each project is different and can be customized to fit your needs.

Why Rebuild a Tonearm?

If you have an old tonearm and you believe you are hearing the original sound of years ago, you are mistaken.

Many older tonearms from the 80s use lubricants that are not meant to last 50 years.  The grease or oil they use in the 80s have usually been dried up, they turn into a sticky substance or even grit.  Some have their bearings completed seized up.  Many are also fitted with old copper wires which are not made for Phono signal application.

A Fidelity Research FR-64S or FR-66S Tonearm is a prime example.   

FR66S.jpg

This Fidelity Research Tonearm was sent in by a customer in Canada.   The bearing grease has turned into hardened grit, almost like sand and the bearing was saturated with grease which has turned into a syrupy goo almost like honey.  The bearing became tight and the arm does not swing smoothly.

 

We completely rebuilt the arm from the ground up, which is a 48-hour process.

 

  1. ​Complete disassembly using precision watch maker's tools

  2. ​Removal of all moving parts

  3. Soak the bearings using Swiss Made watch maker's degreaser

  4. Reassemble the tonearm using precision torque wrenches for all assembly

  5. Relubricate all moving parts using the appropriate Synthetic Watch Maker's Oil

  6. Rewire the Tonearm with a direct run of wire from headshell clips to RCA output

  7. Eliminating the DIN connector

  8. Bypassing the SME Connector pins with a direct wire

  9. Installing a direct run of AnalogMagik Reference Tonearm cable, direct from Headshell to RCA output.

​​

FR 6.jpg
FR 4.jpg
FR 2.jpg
FR 1.jpg

(Bearing completely seized up)

After the customer received the arm, he sent us this feedback:

"Holy Cow!   After the complete rebuild of the FR-64S, I believe I am finally getting the original sound.  More nuanced, better image specificity.  Clean, extended, but not etched.


Very fluid and harmonically correct.   No attention to any one band of the spectrum.


Your rebuild and rewiring of the Fidelity Research FR64s is a complete success.

I am still tweaking but holy cow!   I put the FR7f cartridge on... ( this one is special) and holy moly the rewire is just phenomenal so elegant and enveloping. 

Thank you Mr. RIchard Mak!"

                                                                                                      -  Nick Judanis, Canada

EMAIL US to inquire about our Tonearm Rebuild / Restore / Rewire service

bottom of page