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Grace 707 / 727 Tonearm Cables - Where to buy?

With the upcoming arrival of my new Grace 707 Tonearm, I realize that I need to get new interconnect cables to attach to the RCA jacks of the phono pre-amp. I was told by the seller, that the cables were not included. I didn’t think twice. That is until I started researching what kind of cables were needed to connect a Grace Tonearm to the RCAs. Turns out they are anything but standard.

Whereas a standard Rega arm would require a female 5-pin DIN plug that goes to an RCA finished end, the Grace arms actually have a reversed male 5-pin DIN. As well, the hot and cold are swapped on the pins. Bottom line, if you are missing the cable for your Grace tone arm you will have to find a specifically designed Grace-compliant cable to make it work. In most cases this would cost you $100+ or hours of painstaking soldering work. To my knowledge there is no other use for these interconnects in the sound industry, but luckily I have found a solution.

There is a fine gentle man who runs a site called Ultimate Cables. He make Grace compliant tonearm cable with silver series cable, Cardas din and Neutrik RCA plugs. On top of the high quality work, he sells them for the very reasonable price of $70 through his eBay store

http://stores.ebay.com/Ultimate-Cables

Grace Cardas 5-pin DIN Male Tonearm Cable

Grace Cardas 5-pin DIN Male Tonearm Cable

Silver Series C4 Tonearm Cardas male- Neutrik rca
Starting at: $70.00
Ultimate silver series C4 cable.
6 conductors of 22 gauge with 2 shields.
Separate ground.
Beautiful black outer nylon wrap.
Cardas male 5 pin din with high quality sleeve.
High quality electro-plated gold Neutrik RCA plugs(color coded red/black).
1.2 Meter standard length.

http://stores.ebay.com/Ultimate-Cables

Vintage Clairtone Tube Stereo Console S601 S-600 “The Empress”

Well I just went to see a Clairtone 601 (S-600) that I saw in a craigslist ad andI’ll be bringing it home this Friday and I can’t wait to refurbish it.

It’s definitely a gorgeous console! I believe that this Clairtone model was called the “Empress” and the 601 was from 1961. There is a very nice coffee-table book on Clairtone called “The Art of Clairtonethat has a picture of the 1960 600-S on page 56. The caption reads:

The Empress, model 600-S, introduced in 1960, closely resembles Clairtone’s first 100 series. This model boasted a 60-watt, 22 tube amplifier, a Garrard Type A turntable, and EMI speakers.

In 1962 the oiled walnut version sold for $699 and the teak model went for $749. The Empress model/600 series continued through 1963.

From a 1961 newspaper ad:

Clairtone Empress 601 Stereo Console Ad

Clairtone Empress 601 Stereo Console Ad

The S601 has 16 tubes and EMI speakers (a woofer and two tweeters on each side). As for the power, I am assuming that it delivers 17 watts with its PP 6BQ5/EL84. So, in the end it looks like I’m getting the S-600.

When I went to see it for the first time the woman was upset because a lot of people wanted to part out the receiver and ditch the cabinet. It was an original piece from her father and had been in the family for years, so it made her sad to see it chopped up.  When she realized I wanted to restore it, she was very happy about that.  In the end I didn’t negotiate on price, I’ll give her the full $50 that she was asking.  Here’s a pic of how it looks now:

Finally, here is my inspiration for how this beauty will look when she’s finished!!

Sanyo TP-1005 Turntable

The Sanyo TP-1005 is an Auto-Return PLL-Servo Belt Drive Turntable. This one was hooked up in my house for a while to an Harmon Kardon HK 330C and it was quite a nice vintage table.

sanyo tp-1005

sanyo tp1005

sanyo tp-1005

Taking a Chance - Rega Planar 3 with Grace Tonearm on eBay for only $202!

I had to do it.  I’ve been longing for a Rega Planar for the longest time.  I’ll occasionally check Craigslist or eBay auctions looking for a deal on a modest P1, P2 or Planar, never really contemplating a P3/Planar 3. When I saw one come up for auction within Canada I thought it could be a good chance to finally pull the trigger.  The big question mark however was the fact that the seller has 0 feedback and had only joined eBay two months earlier.

The starting price on the auction was $150 US, which was reasonable so I decided to watch it in my eBay.  I had kinda forgotten about it during the week, until today when I got the reminder email.  Sure enough, 6 hours to go and not a single bid.  HMmm, looks like bidders might be scared off by the 0-feedback score.  I decide to shoot the seller a quick message to ask about shipping to Montreal.  He gives me a very prompt response with three Canada Post options.  Sounds promising, and still 4 hours to go in the auction.

I go about my business, watch some TV and finally look at the time… 8:30pm. Let’s see what’s happening with that Rega.  Only 2 bidders, and it’s at $165.  I tell myself, “I’ll take the risk on the 0-feedback if I can get it for $200.”  With exactly 1 minute to go I throw out a $175.  “You’ve been outbid.”  Refresh.  28 Seconds left.  Let’s shoot for it, one shot, $205.  “You are the high bidder at $202.50.” 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, refresh.  “Congratulations!”

Sweet. Slight buyers remorse. “How do I explain another turntable to the wife?”  No time to think about that now!  An email has been sent to the seller, payment is ready to go!

Here’s a look at the table I should be receiving:

I’ll be sure to update you all on my adventure soon enough.

Stay tuned!

See Part 2 - Rega Planar 3 Project - the Tonearm

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