Turntable audio connector assistance

I bought a used MMF2.1 tt and am having problems setting it up. The red/white connectors that came w/ it are temporary and the left connection came loose. I bought replacements and am having nothing but trouble w/ them. There's a ground loop back on the connectors and I would assume that the wires that show after stripping the sheath off are the ground wires and the inner wire that is also sheathed would be the wire that goes to the connector, right? When I try to set them up that way, all I get is stone silence. When I ignore the ground and just connect it, I get hum. My soldering experience is nil, so I'm trying to work around it. Anyone have suggestions?

 

Bill, I do not have an MMF TT so I cannot help directly. PM Prix, he has walked several of the forum members through setting up MMF TT's. Good luck.

 

Are you referring to the RCA plugs, which plug into the back of your preamp or receiver?

If so, it sounds like you have it correct: the center wire in the cable should be wired to the "tip" in the plug, and the coaxial shield would be your ground. If you're replacing these RCA plugs with new ones, you do have to make sure the wire strands from the shield are not touching the center wire in any way, as that would short out the signal coming from the cartridge and cause no output. A hum indicates the ground shield in the wire is not connect. Unfortunately, I don't know of any RCA plug that can be attached without soldering. If there is one, it probably uses screws to hold the wire in. (I once had a headphone jack that used screws.)

 

Yeah, Rudy, it's the RCA connectors I'm talking about. That last part of your post that I'm quoting might be the problem.

ALP, I thought about contacting prix, but it doesn't seem the problem I'm experiencing would be specific to the Music Hall line.

 

OK Bill, now I understand what you are up against. Rudy is right center wire to the tip of the RCA connector, outer wires or sheath to the outer part of the RCA connector (ground). As Rudy said most RCA's require solder, however, if you are not good with a soldering iron or gun (I did my first soldering in the Boy Sprouts at the tender age of 11 or 12) it might be worth looking for ones that do use screws. If done right they are just as good as solder (some even think better). One brand that I know of that has screws is WBT, but they are very expensive (although you only need a few). Here is link so you at least know what to look for. http://www.wbtusa.com/wbt0108.html

 

Eureka! It took me a good share of the afternoon, but I finally got both channels working. It was as you said Rudy, the ground wire was coming in contact w/ the inner wire. I found the best work around was pulling the ground wires back and stripping the wire for the connector from about 1/4" from where the outer shell was stripped to allow room between the two wires. Thanks for the assistance.

It's still not tracking right, the arm keeps pulling towards the rest. I can get an album to play, but when it gets to the second track, it skitters back. This is something I'll pm prix about.

 

Too much antiskating force.

Stop the turntable and set the anti-skating force to zero. Play a record. Did that work? Sometimes, you really don't want much antiskating force.

Stop the 'table again. Look closely from the front as you lower the stylus into a groove. Do you see the cantilever deflect to the side as it touches the groove? If so, there's already some antiskating due to bearing pre-load, cable stiction etc.

Play a record and watch the stylus - is it totally vertical as it plays? Add a very small amount of antiskating force. Does it straighten up?

 

Bill, congratulations! From your description it sounds like you did exactly the right thing. This link may help with your other TT problems, be sure the platter is level. Good luck.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~rabruil/ttadjust.html