Help! My Magnepan tonearm finally needs to be rewired!


Hi gang,

I love this tonearm, but it has become quite noisy.  I believe it needs to be rewired.  Do any of you know of a business (or individual) who can do this for me?  I hate to give up the arm -- it's otherwise really good, and in good condition.

Thanks!!

gregbackstrom
Hi Greg & welcome to the forums.  I was in the same boat a few years ago and had already had the arm rewired by Magnepan once.  Thread string here:  https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/need-a-magnepan-unitrac-i-tonearm-repaired.  The 44 gauge Litz wire used in the arm tube isn't available anymore and anything else restricts the free motion of the arm on the unipivot.  The guy I ended up working with tried really hard to fix it over several months, but just couldn't make it right again.  I've checked over a few threads about the Magnepan arm since and this is a common problem.  One respondent mentioned that there is a burr internally in the arm assembly that causes the wires to fail and can't be removed.

The final call is yours, but I'd suggest looking for a replacement arm.  There have been a couple of Graham 1.5 and 2.0 units that have popped up here for reasonable money recently, and they are definitely an upgrade from the Unitrac.

Good luck & happy listening.

Hi czarivey,

I'm in Tacoma WA.

Thanks for your post, effischer.  I do have a replacement arm/table, so this isn't an emergency.  I just hate to give up on the arm if repair is possible.  I've read about this burr too.  I suppose it would damage any replacement wiring as well!

Cordially,
Greg