Tonearm wiring termination---DIN, or RCA jacks?

I agree with the direct wire approach from everyone above

But in the RCA arena - KLE Innovations Absolute Harmony RCA's are the best you can get - bar none!

I've owned the entire KLEI lineup - starting with his original Eichmann Silver Bullet and the Absolute Harmony are light years ahead.

Take a look at their web site for lots of reviews

Best Upgrade I ever made to my analogue rig!

Regards...

Ditto uninterrupted direct-wire. I've transitioned from the vetted Hovland Musicgroove to various DIY straight-wire designs-- most recently with KLEI silver RCAs-- and will never go back. Count the number of soldered and metal-on-metal contacts eliminated and it makes perfect sense for low-level signal.

I just saw all the responses---thanks! I've had the same "one uninterrupted run from clips to RCA plugs" viewpoint for years. When I had Lary Pedersen do his Well Tempered mod, I had him terminate the VdH wire in plugs to insert directly into my phono amp located directly under the table, and Brooks Berdan the same when he rewired my Rega with Cardas. But Johnnie (j7) at Audio Origami tells me he recommends against it, feeling the thin internal wire is too fragile, microphonic, and prone to picking up stray signals, etc. He prefers a DIN plug at the bottom of the arm pillar, but you know how conservative the British can be! KLEI RCA's are definitely going on the ends (of silver wire, also already decided upon), whichever wiring style I decide on.

I sold the Well Tempered arm recently on ebay, and it can be seen if you do an "advanced" search for it on the site. Lary enclosed the internal wire with a braided sheath (for shielding) when it exited the arm, all the way to the male RCA's I had him terminate into.

In a related matter.....In looking for a new phono amp, I've noticed something: the location of their input jacks seems to be chosen for reasons of circuit board layout rather than of where the best location ergonomically is. I have my phono amp directly under my table, and the best place for the input jacks of an amp so located is obviously on the far left end of the rear panel (looking at the panel from the rear). So located, the arm wires need be only long enough to reach down to the jacks on the next shelf. Very few phono amps have their jacks in that location. The EAR 868, for instance, has it's on the far right of the rear panel, which is great if the amp is placed to the right of the table (looking at them from the front). All the ARC's I've seen have theirs exactly where I want them---on the far left of the panel (again, looking from the rear).