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Old 1st Jul 2008, 7:37 am   #1
recordandy
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Default Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

I have got a stereo cartridge (ceramic) and I would like to fit it into an old Ferguson record player. It has 4 pins at the back but the Ferguson has 3 wires coloured red green and black. How do I wire it up?
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Old 2nd Jul 2008, 3:50 pm   #2
PauldeH
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

Hi

First make sure you know how the three wires from the Ferguson are connected. Two will be for the original mono cartridge's 2 pins (signal and gnd) and the third will be an earth to ground the metal parts of the arm.

Then you'll need to know the 'pin-out' of the stereo cartridge. It will be right and left signal, and right and left ground. You need to short the two signal pins, and separately short the two ground pins. That gives you two points to connect the arm wiring to.
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Old 2nd Jul 2008, 5:58 pm   #3
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

I'm not sure, but isn't there something about mono cartridges having a higher output than a stereo one, or did I dream this?
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Old 5th Jul 2008, 9:18 pm   #4
PWH
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

Hi you can wire stereo cartridges in series or parallel.
Parallel retains the original ouput but Mono, series adds the voltage outputs while 'mixing' the 2 channels of stereo signal. Depending on the input impedance one way will work better than the other for your record player.
so wire either (++) (--) or - (+linked-) + where + is the live L/R signal and - is the respective ground
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Old 30th Oct 2008, 11:45 am   #5
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

Hi PWH
Just read your post and I'm a bit confused about what you mean. I understand (++) and (--) type connection, but the other one leaves me totally confused. Would you be kind enough to give a fuller explanation of this?
Thanks
Vasco
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Old 30th Oct 2008, 11:51 am   #6
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

Hi Vasco,

PWH is suggesting that you can wire the left and right channels either in parallel or in series.

Do you remember any physics from school days?

Think of each channel of the cartridge as a battery if it helps. You can wire two batteries in parallel (+ to + and - to -) or in series (as in a 2-battery torch, with the + of one battery is connected to the - of the other, with the bulb connected to either end of the chain).

Here's a pic from the web (albeit with 4 batteries rather than 2); the top shows parallel connection, the lower series.

http://ctaps.yu.edu.jo/physics/Cours...s_parallel.gif
I hope that helps

Nick.


P.S. I do know that a "battery" is not the same as a "cell" but I'm trying to keep things simple here
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Old 30th Oct 2008, 12:31 pm   #7
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

Something called phase is important here. An error in wiring either way could result in no sound(when playing mono records) or drastically reduced volume.
For ease simply imagine a battery in above diagram is the output of your cartridge. So if you have symptoms described just swap ONE pair of wires round.
Hopefully the cartridge will have plugs on the back, but if not don't keep the soldering iron on too long!
Good luck
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Old 30th Oct 2008, 4:10 pm   #8
Darren-UK
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

As Vasco is confused, I've just done a couple of quick scribbles to back up the cell-wiring illustrations above. Sorry about the crudity of the scribbles .

Remember, however, that the Ferguson which is the subject of this thread has three wires beneath the tonearm. Some variation of the wiring illustrated below may therefore be necessary. Alternatively it might be possible to add a fourth wire, connect the four to the SC12 as normal, then do the linking at the tag strip beneath the deck. This can certainly be easier than fiddling about at the cartridge terminals.
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Old 30th Oct 2008, 4:24 pm   #9
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

That's just what we all needed, Darren
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Old 2nd Nov 2008, 9:08 am   #10
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Default Re: Wiring a stereo cartridge for mono

Great, thanks a lot, I've got it to work in practice as well.
Vasco
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