Ortofon LW-800S Headshell Lead Wires

Pure Silver and Silver-Coated Copper, Four Wires to a Package

The Ortofon LW-800S is a package of four headshell lead wires built from a combination of pure silver wire and OFC copper coated with pure silver. They replace the leads between the cartridge pins and a standard-mount headshell.

Headshell leads sit at the very start of the signal path, where the cartridge's output is at its smallest and before any amplification has happened. It is the shortest run of cable in the system and the one carrying the most fragile signal.

Silver and Silver-Coated Copper

Fit and Materials

Each wire combines pure silver with OFC copper that has itself been silver coated. Ortofon chose the combination for how silver conducts at high frequencies, which is where a cartridge's output is smallest and most easily lost.

They fit a standard-mount headshell with four exposed cartridge pins, which covers most detachable headshells regardless of the cartridge brand. An arm wired straight through to the cartridge has no separate leads to change.

The convention is red and green for the right channel, hot and ground respectively, and white and blue for the left. Ortofon color-codes its cartridge terminals to match, and the green terminal is always the one used to ground the cartridge housing where that connection is made inside the cartridge.

Who Are These Lead Wires Best For?

• You have taken the rest of the setup as far as it goes — alignment and force are done and this is what is left
• You run a low-output moving coil — the smaller the signal, the more the first few centimeters matter
• Your existing leads came free with something — stock leads are rarely a considered choice
• You want silver rather than copper — pure silver combined with silver-coated OFC, in a package of four
• Your tonearm has captive internal wiring — with no detachable headshell there are no leads to change; see turntable parts and add-ons

How Do You Fit Them?

Remove the headshell from the arm and work in good light with the cartridge secure. Take each old lead off by the clip. Fit the replacements one at a time, matching colors to terminals, and seat each clip fully. Silver-plated clips are no more fragile than any other, but the wire is fine — handle by the clip throughout.

Pairs Well With

What most owners fitting a tonearm part shop next.

• Cartridge alignment tools — anything that moves the cartridge means re-checking geometry
• Stylus force gauges — and re-setting tracking force afterwards
• Phono cartridges — the component all of this is in service of
• Test records — for hearing whether the change landed

Frequently Asked Questions

How many do I need?

One package. The LW-800S comes as four wires, which is a full set for one cartridge.

Will they fit my cartridge?

They suit the standard four-pin mount with a detachable headshell, which is common across brands rather than specific to Ortofon.

What are they made of?

A combination of pure silver wire and OFC copper coated with pure silver.

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