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Topic: How to Make a New Ground Wire (Read 14643 times) previous topic - next topic
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How to Make a New Ground Wire

In my space it will work best to have my Technics 1210 turntable approximately 15 feet from the receiver.  I have some Monster Interlink cables in the box-o-cables that will work just fine.  My question is this... As I need to extend the length of the ground (earth) wire, can anyone tell me specifics about the type of wire to purchase?

I plan to go to Radio Shack but I really know nothing about wire.  I assume it should be single core and shielded, but beyond that should it be cooper core?  If they don't have that, is there a next best choice or anything I should specifically avoid?  Any preference on the gauge?

I plan to just use some heat shrink wrapping to cover where I splice the wires so as to extend the original to be 15-20 feet long.  Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

How to Make a New Ground Wire

Reply #1 –
Quote from: MattLx70 on
In my space it will work best to have my Technics 1210 turntable approximately 15 feet from the receiver.  I have some Monster Interlink cables in the box-o-cables that will work just fine.  My question is this... As I need to extend the length of the ground (earth) wire, can anyone tell me specifics about the type of wire to purchase?


Unless there's a model of 1210 that has built-in preamps, I'd be concerned with the effect of 15 feet of shielded wire on the frequency response of the cartridge. If you want to go ahead with this sort of length, it might be desirable to relocate your preamp to be within 3' cable length of the turntable, or get an outboard phono preamp, and bring the phono input into your preamp or receiver on a aux or other high level input.

Here's a source of outboard phono preamps:

http://www.kabusa.com/phonpre.htm#pg1

How to Make a New Ground Wire

Reply #2 –
Unfortunately my DA6400ES doesn't appear to have any preamp inputs.  So I guess you're saying I'll almost certainly have noise if I go with a 15 ft. long earth wire?

Wire's cheap.  So if it's just a concern that there might be noise, I'd still appreciate any advice on the type of wire.  Sounds funny, I just don't know a thing about the physical wires.

How to Make a New Ground Wire

Reply #3 –
Quote from: MattLx70 on
Unfortunately my DA6400ES doesn't appear to have any preamp inputs.  So I guess you're saying I'll almost certainly have noise if I go with a 15 ft. long earth wire?

Wire's cheap.  So if it's just a concern that there might be noise, I'd still appreciate any advice on the type of wire.  Sounds funny, I just don't know a thing about the physical wires.

I'm not sure you understood what Arnie was telling you. You need to know whether you have an unamplified turntable connected to the phono preamp input of your receiver, or if you have an amplified turntable connected to a high-level input, such as auxiliary. Our recommendations may depend on your answer.

As far as a ground wire, what you want is a single conductor, either solid or stranded, either insulated or bare. Run it parallel with the signal cables, preferable twisted around them, from the turntable to the receiver. Attach under the appropriate screw/lug/etc. at each end.

EDIT: The gauge of the wire is not critical, something around 22 or 20 gauge would work, and definitely copper, but otherwise nothing special.

How to Make a New Ground Wire

Reply #4 –
It's the SL-1210M5G.  I haven't hooked it up yet but I'm fairly certain it's unamped.  I will be patching it into the Phono inputs on the Sony receiver.

How to Make a New Ground Wire

Reply #5 –
Quote from: MattLx70 on
It's the SL-1210M5G.  I haven't hooked it up yet but I'm fairly certain it's unamped.  I will be patching it into the Phono inputs on the Sony receiver.

In that case I agree with Arnie...15 to 20 feet is too long. You may have problems with added noise and hum, as well as loss of high frequencies.

How to Make a New Ground Wire

Reply #6 –
Agreed, although you may be able to alleviate some of the high frequency issues by switching to a low inductance, high output MC cartridge (eg Denon DL-110/160). It probably won't help the hum though.

To answer the OP, stranded copper wire 22AWG or better should be fine.

How to Make a New Ground Wire

Reply #7 –
I should also add that it is a good idea to plug the turntable and the amplifier into the same circuit, even if it means running an extension cord to one of them. Keep the power cord well away from the signal cables.

How to Make a New Ground Wire

Reply #8 –
Thanks to all for the input.  It sounds like I just need to avoid the distance.  I can always just unpack and hook up the phono when I'm in the mood for vinyl.  For short term usage I can put it closer to the receiver and use shorter wires.  I only wanted it 15 ft. away as a permanent resting place.  Oh well.