SL1200GAE New Tonearm

@chakster Cardas was the worst wire out of any I've tried, IMO. Just lazy and indistinct sounding. van den hul MCS150M is my favorite. 

Just because the tonearm cable is copper, it doesn't mean that the silver tonearm wire portion will not have a positive impact. From my experience, it has a very big impact. 

I use silver plated van den Hul 501 DIN to RCA tonearm cable, comes stock with SME. So far I haven't found anything better.

For removable cartridge leads, I've settled on Ortofon LW 800 S, which is a mixture of solid silver strands and silver plated copper. 

I don't use silver anywhere else in the system as it becomes overwhelmingly too much. I find copper to be better. 

I have no idea how you can compare the tonearm with one set of internal wires to the same toneam with another set of internal wires. You must have a computer memory as the rewire process could take a few hrs. Or you need multiply samples of the same tonearm to compare. Cardas copper set of 4 litz wires for tonearm is $25, Discovery wire set is very close in price (nice high quality, affordable wires for everyone). As i said no problem with stock wires in good tonearms, i think GAE is one of them.

I can compare for example Reed 3p tonearm that comes with ultra high-end cryo treated cable from cartridge pins to phono stage to some nice vintage toneam with stock internal wires, detachabe headshell and din connector in between and it is not necessary that cryo treaded ultra high-end expensive wires will make the sound of Reed more pleasant.

Much more depends on the cartridge, if the wire is good it will be the last thing i will change. I’m not gonna rewire tonearm 5 times to try different wires, but i would rather change 5 different cartridges. I think i already find nice interconnect and speaker cables made by Chris Sommovigo (Stereolab, Stereovox, and now Black Cat) this guy designed tonearm cable for Continuum Cobra tonearm.

Very good or ultra high-end tonearm cable is the last thing to bother (imo), the difference in price is huge sometimes, only if you have find your absolute reference cartridge and tonearm and everything else then it’s time to experiment with different tonearm wires. I believe we do not use bad cables and it make sence to change something if we’re not happy about the sound. But what if we’re happy about the sound?

Some audiogon members always advice to another members to change something or upgrade something before the buyer even start listening to his new turntables (GAE for example). It’s endless quest how to spend more money instead of enjoying music with a nice gear.

@chakster I had an OEM Rega tonearm which I used for testing. Rewired it a number of times and tried most of the better know tonearm wire on the market. Cartridges used were OC9/II and ART9. I have since moved on to 2M Black and SME 309, but the results still hold true.

I have an exceptional sound memory and extensive knowledge in what to listen for. Familiarity of the system is also a key factor. I consistently prefer silver wire when it comes to anything related to phono. I see that Ortofon, SME, John Curl, and many others have also come to a similar conclusion. My preferred manufacturer of silver phono cabling is van den Hul.

As for recommending other members to modify commercial equipment, I would never do that. But upgrading the cartridge leads to Ortofon's silver LW 800 S and tonearm cable to van den Hul's D-501 Silver Hybrid would have my highest recommendation. 

Problem is that atmasphere is a seller and always post to promote something of his busine$$.

@rauliruegas I'm calling BS on this. Every Triplanar we've installed on SL1200G 'tables was shipped to us by the customer. Get your facts straight. 

I am quite sure the Technics tonearm is good. I have listened to the stock 1200G more than a few times. 

I was the first to post on this Forum about the Technics TT and about replacing the stock arm.

 I have now done so and am Happy that I did. As Ralph states; I had the TT sent to him. He did nothing to promote the mod to me.

Final Thought; The Technics and probably anyone of the great arms out there Will be Game Changers.

 I have spoken to Bill Voss; Technics is listening. They are moving forward in the High End.

Keep your mind, eyes and ears open. More to come.

Best to All on this Journey