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Fidelity Research
Direct Wiring Bypass
What is Direct Wiring Bypass?
The Fidelity Research has two connectors: a bayonet connector at the headshell end and a DIN connector at the exit end. In total, there are more than 52 connection points.
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Headshell Pin to Clips (compression joint)
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Clips to Headshell leads wire (Solder Joint)
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Headshell leads wire to Clips again (Solder joint)
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Clips to Bayonet Pins (Compression Joint)
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Bayonet Pins to Bayonet Receiving End (Contact Joint)
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Pin to Bayonet Springs
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Bayonet Springs to Pin again
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Bayonet Pins to Internal wiring (solder joint)
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Internal Wiring to Exit DIN Pins (Solder Joint)
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Din Pins to Female Din in Phono Cable Din (non-solder pressure contact)
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Phono Cable Female Din Pins to wire (solder joint)
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Wires to RCA Connector (solder joint)
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4 Ground wiring Solder joints
It is absolutely unnecessary to have all the connections in between. Each of these connections is detrimental to the sound and dramatically increases the resistance of your cable.
We believe you can achieve a much higher level of performance by rewiring your tonearm to have one single wire from Cartridge Clips to RCA Output, without any breaks or connection in the phono cable.
Direct Wiring will eliminate all the connection joints.
A direct wire will outperform any
ultra-expensive top of the line
DIN to RCA phono cable.
Some people spend thousands of dollars on the DIN to RCA phono cable, sometimes they even cost more than the tonearm itself. This is the wrong way to approach the problem.
The Bayonet and DIN connector is the biggest bottleneck in phono signal connectivity. The typical phono signal is around 0.1mv, which is 0.0001 volts, and this voltage needs to be multiplied by 10,000+ times. The phono cable is the most important cable in your system because this signal will affect every other component down the chain. Each connection point will add measurable resistance to the signal, and if it is 0.0001V, each connection will degrade signal integrity.
Direct wiring eliminates ALL the connections by removing the Bayonet connector at the headshell end and the DIN connector at the RCA end. The result is a permanent cable, direct from headshell to RCA, with no breaks in connections in between. A permanent headshell will be installed:
"What if I like to swap headshells?"
There is a common misconception that with the Bayonet DIN connector, it be convenient for you to "hot swap headshells", but this is a myth.
1) Nobody really hot swap headshells between records
2) Each time you swap headshell, you have to change nearly all the setup parameters:
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Vertical Tracking Force needs to be reset
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The azimuth needs to be reset
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The VTA needs to be reset
The only step it saves you is to unplug four wires.
3) Many after-market headshells allow the "headshell" portion to be disconnected.
4) The Bayonet connector is poorly machined and fitting is usually very bad with many wobbling parts. It reduces energy transfer of the tonearm.
To maintain the "hot swap" feature, simply use a Yamamoto or an Acoustical System Arche headshell, where the "headshell" part can be detached. This way, you can still "how to swap" headshells; you remove the "headshell" part without touching the bayonet mechanism, which is bypassed and turned into a permanent connection.
Also, the FR tonearm does not have an azimuth adjustment. However, by changing the headshell to a Yamamoto headshell, you can adjust the azimuth.
The only reason to maintain the Bayonet connector is if you use SPU cartridges; otherwise, there are zero benefits to having "52 connections."
What tonearm wires do you use?
We have many wiring choices:
1) Pure Silver Litz wire with the lowest capacitance on the market
2) Pure Silver, fabric-wrapped aged wiring
3) Pure Cooper wiring
4) Pure Silver solid core wiring
5) Kondo Pure Silver Litz wiring
We also use silver shielding, which is found in very few tonearm cables on Earth. The silver shielding costs many times more than the actual wiring because it uses more silver than the conductors.
Direct wiring is one of the single biggest improvements you can make to the FR arm, and our customers report a significant increase in transparency, dynamics, and a much lower noise floor.
EMAIL US to inquire about our Tonearm Rebuild / Restore / Rewire service
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