Cartridge experts please help...EV/ Ronette 105-1

[Levente]

Originally Posted by ms660

Hi I have just amended my last post, connect cables as per that to fix the "reverse volume" first.

Once that is done it would be good to see a photo of the tag strip under the deck that the cartridge wires are connected to and a close up photo of the connecting pin end of the pickup cartridge that you wish to use.

Lawrence.

Hi

Re-soldered as suggested, attached some photos...with regards the rail/ strip

1- 2_3_4 -5 the 1 and 5 are R+L positives, the 2,3,4 bridged and grounded.

the tone arm where the 4 connection points are to the cartridge, the 4 pins are top view front view:

1-2
3-4

the 1-2 are together assuming this is the R+L and this goes to the rail and goes to the re-soldered volume control/switch

the 3-4 at the bottom goes to the rail 2-3-4, and grounded (also from the rail this goes to the volume control / switch too on screen of those re soldered cables)

The cartridge, the new one, is an EV Electro Voice, I was hoping to see some manual came with it, but it only says "check how the old cartridge was connected and do the same)...the output voltages of the new cartridge is much more than the old one, the truntable came with...

again, I assume, because I have LR together and the grounds, I only can do two ways? knowing that the top raw pins on the tone arm are the positives and the bottom ones are the negatives.

the problem is that with the new cartridge, no matter what needle i am using, the sound is very very weak...(those weird AC/DC voltages mentioned, are there in the tone arm and the top of the Garrard cartridge, where the screw is) however, I have not tested this with the re soldered switch...shall I do that?

with the old cart I have huge sound, but also huge hum, as mentioned in the original post...if i getting closer to those metal parts with my hand, the hum increases in the speaker..

if I touch the top of the cartridge it, a huge BAAAAAM...coming out from my speaker

if touch the tone arm, no huge buzz, but gets completely silent (it was a bit of a hum there at the first place..)

thank you!

['LIVEWIRE?']

It may be an optical illusion, but it appears that the end of the red wire in picture #1 isn't connected to anything! Is the record player mono orstereo?. If mono the LH & RH +ve connections from the cartridge need to be Bridged i.e. joined together at the tagstrip under the chassis

[lazythread]

I've had problems in the past with the headshell connecting pins being dirty or not making contact, especially if you're disturbing them for the first time. It sounds as if one of the ground contacts is not connecting.

Try removing the headshell and gently pushing the pins in the arm with a cotton bud dipped in IPA. Also clean the contacts on the headshell. The pins in the headshell can move and one may be slightly "recessed" compared with the others.

LIVEWIRE? is right, the red "hot" wire is not connected to the pot and this may also be contributing to your problem. You will need to connect this before attempting anything else.

[Levente]

Originally Posted by 'LIVEWIRE?'

It may be an optical illusion, but it appears that the end of the red wire in picture #1 isn't connected to anything! Is the record player mono orstereo?. If mono the LH & RH +ve connections from the cartridge need to be Bridged i.e. joined together at the tagstrip under the chassis

hey

Thanks guys, the red wire is connected together with the white...it is just the photo, that is for sure...

The deck is Stereo but going into one speaker ...so all comes out in one, so stereo ends up being Mono at the end...

the L+R and the grounds are bridged on the volume pot, but not on the rail underneath the deck...on the rail is only the ground is bridged...,


maybe the head shell needs a complete re wiring...

but still I am unsure how to connect these to the new cartridge, the EV 96 or IF even can be used because of the output voltages of that cartridge is double than the original one...?

[ms660]

So far as I can make out....EV-96 cartridge pinout:

1=LH +ve. (signal "live")
2=LH -ve. (signal "ground")
3=RH +ve. (signal "live")
4=RH -ve. (signal "ground")

So at the cartridge....White wire to 1, red wire to 3, connect the other two wires to 2 and 4.

EDIT: When connecting the other two wires to 2 and 4 it shouldn't matter which wire goes to which of those pins because both of those wires are connected together at the tag strip underneath the deck, in other words they are the signal "ground" wires and the red and white wires are the signal "live" wires

Hopefully.

Lawrence.

[Levente]

Thanks Lawrence, is the output voltage difference of the EV 96 would be an issue?

I am still measuring these voltages in the tone arm and chassis....VAC 2.8 and VDC is moving from -68 milivolts to +38 milivolts in a pattern up and down....

[ms660]

If the output from the EV-96 is higher than that of the Ronnete it shouldn't make too much difference because the volume control is before any stages of amplification.

The voltages your meter is measuring could just be strays, remember that the input impedance of a DMM is very high and it's display resolution is usually very good whatever voltage is present.

If you are concerned about the chassis being live to real earth then connect the chassis to mains earth.

Lawrence.

[Levente]

Sadly, it doesn't work wired exactly that way...now I have no sound at all...the weird thing is with the same wiring the old Ronette works, but that cartridge is really in a bad shape...

not sure what could be the issue...is it the new cart itself? came in a sealed box NOS in pristine condition...i am not sure what is happening here...

[ms660]

The replacement cartridge could be no good, if it were me I would try each pin combination in turn with one channel connected and gently stroke the stylus to see if you can get any output.

Lawrence.

[Levente]

Thanks Lawrence, i think I will look for another cartridge...is there a modern replacement of an y of these or should I go with the same Ronette 105?

i am new to this world of the turntables...

[ms660]

Some folks on this forum use the new Chinese cartridges, I've never used one so I can't advise on the aspects of fitting/using one but someone on the forum that's used one should be able to give some advice.

Lawrence.

[John10b]

You have been well advised and after trying all the various pin combinations it still does not work! I hope that all the other wiring is correct. It would seem that the amp is ok, from what you have said.
So it would seem that the Cartridge is faulty, very unlucky.
I bought two Red Chinese Cartridges for £3 including postage from google. They do not come with brackets so you must find suitable brackets. I’m still testing the Cartridges because I have some small distortion but this could be my deck.
If I was you I would search for another suitable Cartridge.
Cheers
John

[John10b]

Sorry I should have said “ I bought it from Amazon” not Google.
Cheers
John

[Techman]

You're not soldering directly onto the cartridge pins, are you? The heat from a soldering iron will destroy a good cartridge in a couple of seconds flat!

[Levente]

Originally Posted by Techman

You're not soldering directly onto the cartridge pins, are you? The heat from a soldering iron will destroy a good cartridge in a couple of seconds flat!

thanks Guys, in the meantime I came down with a nasty flu...the project is on standby, and in Techman,

i was soldering the pins...so basically I have destroyed not only one cartrdige, but two, the old one too...

lesson learned, costed 40 EURs...now I am looking for another alternative...

thanks for all your help again

[John10b]

Get well soon. We all have to learn the hard way! I carried out further tests on the Red Chinese Cartridge. I found the mounting bracket, that I bought separately, not properly aligned, my fault! so after making adjustments there is no distortion. It’s a pity that the Cartridges don’t come with suitable mounting brackets, but for less than £3 I should not complain.
Cheers
John

[Levente]

hello People and Happy Christmas to you all...


well, to come back to this turntable was a real journey. Changed the cartridge and it sounds wonderful besides ONE thing...which makse me wonder..

The volume control...if I turn it down to listen the music quietly, the quality of the sounds really gets distorted...if I turn the volume up, the quality sound comes back...someties it does it when I don;t touch it, when the music I play has a quitere section...so if th emusic drops in volume, the quality gets bad...and i can not turn up the volume control for more than a quarter...if I turn it up more, I m having an incredible high feedback from my speaker...

Could you please point me towards a direction where shall I start looking at this?

Other than that , it sounds really really NICE! (The speaker is a 16ohm tho, but this has a 4 ohm output so that should be fine i think)

Thank you, and hope you all having great festive days!