LW-7N Headshell Cable - Ortofon

Turntable accessories - Headshell cables

The weakest link in an analog chain determines the sound of the entire chain - and the weakest link is frighteningly often found where few people look: in the four tiny connecting cables between the cartridge and the headshell. Anyone who buys a phono preamp for several hundred euros and chooses their interconnect cable carefully, but skimps on the very first connection in the signal path, has put the foundation of their analog system on shaky ground. The signal generated by the pickup is in the millivolt range - more sensitive than any other signal in the entire hi-fi chain. What is lost here is never recovered. The Ortofon LW-7N addresses this most critical point with the most consistent choice of materials.

The LW-7N is a hybrid headshell cable: It combines two different copper purities in an asymmetrical conductor structure - three thicker conductors made of 7N pure copper (99.99999 %) as the main signal-carrying conductor and sixteen finer conductors made of 6N pure copper (99.9999 %) as a supplementary structure. The contacts are rhodium-plated. Four cables in the set - one per pickup pin, color-coded according to Ortofon standard for error-free installation.

The phono signal of an MM cartridge is around 2.5 to 5.5 millivolts - the MC signal is much lower, at 0.2 to 0.5 mV. For comparison: a line signal is around 2,000 mV. At no other point in the entire hi-fi chain is the signal so weak, so sensitive to increases in resistance, oxidation layers and capacitive interference as at this first connection point between the pickup pin and the headshell terminal. Every milliohm of contact resistance, every oxidation layer, every foreign particle scattering in the conductor has a proportionally greater effect here than at any other position in the signal path.

The common mistake is to invest in a high-quality pickup and rely on the standard factory cables supplied, which in many headshells are made of simple, medium-purity OFC copper with gold-plated plugs. This works - but it is not the optimum. The LW-7N closes this gap. For those who have already invested in a mid- to high-end pickup, the LW-7N is the logical addition: the first link in the chain at the same quality level as everything that follows.

The "N" classification describes the degree of purity of a metal in nines: 4N means 99.99 % pure, 6N means 99.9999 % pure, 7N stands for 99.99999 % - the highest degree of purity that can be achieved and processed in the audiophile cable market. The difference between 4N and 7N sounds marginal, but is physically relevant: In a copper conductor, electrical charge carriers scatter at grain boundaries, lattice structure defects and foreign atoms. The purer the copper, the more homogeneous the crystal structure, the lower the number of these scattering centers - and the lower the loss in signal transmission. With the tiny phono signals we are talking about here, this difference is no longer a matter of audiophile faith, but signal physics.

The LW-7N connects this 7N copper in a hybrid construction with sixteen finer 6N conductors: The thicker 7N conductors (Ø 0.26 mm) handle the main signal transmission, while the sixteen thinner 6N conductors (Ø 0.10 mm) supplement the cross-section and provide the necessary mechanical flexibility of the cable in the miniaturized headshell context. A pure 7N cable without this supplementary structure would either be too rigid for the fragile headshell environment or too thin for a reliable clamping connection to the pickup pin.

The contact shoes of the LW-7N are rhodium-plated - a material decision that Ortofon made deliberately. Rhodium belongs to the platinum group and has the highest oxidation resistance of all contact metals: it does not form an oxide layer, practically does not corrode under normal conditions and remains permanently electrically neutral. Compared to gold-plated contacts - as with the predecessor model LW-6N - rhodium is therefore clearly ahead in terms of long-term stability and permanent protection against gradual contact deterioration. A headshell cable is rarely changed in practice - so it is all the more important that the contacts remain reliable for years.

Ortofon expressly recommends attaching the headshell cable to the headshell before mounting the cartridge - i.e. first attach the cable to the cartridge and headshell, then attach the entire unit to the tonearm. The reason for this is that the contact pins on Ortofon cartridges have a diameter of 1.2 mm, whereas the clamping openings of the headshell cables are only 1.0 mm. With the cartridge already mounted, the force required to attach it is difficult to control - once connected, the system offers sufficient freedom of movement. The color coding follows the Ortofon standard: red/green for the right channel (signal/ground), white/blue for the left channel.

In the Ortofon cable portfolio, the LW-7N stands above the LW-6N (pure gold-plated contacts, lower copper purity) and below the LW-800S - the top model with pure silver conductors and rhodium-plated contacts for absolute high-end use. The LW-7N is therefore the well-balanced reference cable for every pickup from the mid-range upwards: a noticeable step up from standard cables in terms of sound, uncomplicated handling and reliable long-term stability.