Hi all 
I have just replaced my MM Goldring cartridge to a MC Ortofon MC quintet.
I must admit that it toom me some time to go over the wiring..very tiny space to go about.. but eventually all went well.
But now every once and while I get sound only from one speaker.. when I touch the wiring a bit.. it is fixed but then repeats after a while.
Should I take all wires out and re-connect them?
Does it make sense?
My phono is Thorens TD with TP92 arm.
Any suggestions are welcome
Ron
Hi Ron,
after reading your post, two thoughts came to my mind.
The first and more likely one is that there is something wrong with at least one of the headshell wires and/or a cartridge clip. Maybe one of the wires is broken, a real possibility with solid core wires or the solder joint between wire and clip has come loose.
The second thing is the fit between the cartridge pins and the clips. Some pins are bigger than others and loosen the clips. This might lead to a less secure connection with smaller pins. But you surely would have noticed and mentioned this already.
This has happened to me. The answer is to remove the connectors with long nosed pliers and squeeze them a little to make a tighter fit. They are triangular so it’s a matter of squeezing in the right place. Then pop them back on the pins and all should be well.
Place a round toothpick into the connector before crimping it down-will provide a more even distribution of force.
The Goldring 1000 series have pins of 1.3mm diameter, most cartridges have 1,2mm pins and my Ortofon SPU N series has 1.0mm pins, though the specs claim they’re 1.2mm I’ve measured them and on mine from six years ago they’re not. When trying to close up the clips a bit it’s best to put something inside to stop them closing too far.
Bad idea to remove a wire from the back of a phono cartridge with pliers, IMHO. You risk breaking the head shell lead. Remove them with something that pushes the wire off the cartridge pin, rather than pulls it off. I use a watch band repair tool that has a neat tool for doing just that.
Once the connector is off the the cartridge pin I use a small needle nose plier to compress the connectors ever so much for a more snug fit, and then I use a gull beak tweezer to reconnect it to the cartridge pin. I never use needle nose pilers to attach or remove: they are just too heavy-handed and risky,
I take no chances. My tonearms are wired with super-thin litz wire from head shell to DIN termination. If I break a wire/connector in the head shell the whole arm goes back to Germany for a rewire. I’d rather perfect my technique than suffer the pain of time and expense for a repair.
Well, it’s always worked for me. Maybe I have a more delicate touch.
I use Tweezers. ( What a strange word!!)
Over compressing a clip and trying to open it by pushing it onto the cartridge pin has pushed a pin in on my Ortofon in, though not all the way and I persuaded it out again to its original position. Not an unknown occurrence I gather.
One has to be a surgeon to make this routine..
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