There are two other performance related upgrades that you can make. The first and most obvious (unless you happen to own a DNM pre-amp) is to swap out the 5-pin Din connector for RCAs, or better still, replace the whole arm cable with something current and considerably better. Every time my fingers started twitching towards the soldering iron, that virgin brown enamel on the baseboard fixings stops me in my tracks. Eventually I overcame my scruples and whipped off the baseboard to examine the problem. The arm terminates in a set of simple solder pads on a small board located in the rear right corner of the plinth. Not only does that make it simplicity itself to replace the arm-lead with something more appropriate, but you can keep the original and reattach should you ever want to. Having said that, the sonic improvement that came with the addition of a pukka arm-cable was so substantial that if you really wanted an original, it would be easier to just buy another complete unit! I started by fitting an old Cardas tonearm cable that happened to be lying around, but given the conspicuous improvement that wrought in terms of bandwidth, separation, weight and tonality I couldn’t help upgrading that to an old original Nordost Valhalla cable that was also looking for a home.
The other obvious swap is the platter mat. At least, swapping out the heavy, ridged rubber stock item is obvious: what to replace it with, less so. Not only does the Telefunken’s platter have a rebate within which the mat is going to need to sit, the thickness and weight are critical. The arm has no VTA adjustment, so it is best to keep things as near standard as possible in dimensional terms, while the total moving mass of platter and mat is a critical factor in calculating the correct torque for a direct-drive system. The existing mat is 3mm thick and weighs 205g. Cherry Audio in the UK offers a 3mm acrylic mat with a flat surface and label recess for £34.79. Intended for the technics SL-1200, it is 285mm in diameter (meaning it won’t quite sit inside the rebate on the platter) and it weighs in at 221g, which is the closest I’ve found so far. It comes in a range of primary colours, but thankfully it comes in black too. (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233313865417?hash=item3652970ec9:g:5qgAAOSwZbFdUV5K) I tried a high-density cork mat (€19.90 from Pathe Wings – https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224396244724) that also offers a 3mm thickness (the company provides various thickness options, so you could buy to suit) and weighs in at only 54g, but so far I’ve actually preferred the sound of a thinner, felt mat ‘stolen’ from my LP12. This gives a richer range of tonal colour at the expense of some clarity, but it’s the best overall balance of virtues I’ve found so far – felt having the added virtue of also being cheap!
To this point, the combined cost of rendering the CS 20 ‘current’ adds up to the purchase price plus a little over £40 and a few visits to the spares bin. Left like this, the performance is out of all proportion with the total investment. However (and speaking from a privileged position), I chose to make one more change that alters the financial equation significantly. I had on hand, samples of the Acoustical Systems Arché, a standard mount detachable headshell that incorporates a pivoting cartridge platform to enable precise adjustment of VTA. It seemed like too good an option to pass up, even if a price that’s the wrong side of £400 dwarfs the total cost of the player as a whole. It’s not an option that’s necessary or that I’d even suggest, but if you go the CS 20 route and you get intrigued enough to want to take it as far as possible, then it’s one more step to consider.
