Before CDs arrived in 1983 nearly every home had an analog turntable and collection of vinyl records. With no internet, MP3s or streaming the goal of the 1970's audiophile was to try and extract as much detail as possible from a recording. This meant investing in a high-end turntable with an exotic tonearm and expensive cartridge. Hours were spent tweaking settings while listening to favorite vinyl, the intimate process was similar to the process of learning a musical instrument.

In 1998 I purchased a vintage Denon DP-1500 turntable on which the the PO had installed the unique Magnepan Unitrac 1 arm. Magnepan of White Bear Lake, Minnesota was already well-known for its Magneplaner loudspeakers and to release a high-end tonearm was surprising, especially a space-age design with unusual features.

Released in 1980 the arm was a very light carbon fiber with a "Radial Unipivot" design. The manual design had a curved lift which allowed you to swing the arm across to any position over the record before lowering. The arm has to be manually returned at the end of the record: this is not an arm for unsteady hands or forgetful listeners.

A small tool fits into the rear of the tonearm to raise and lower the height for correct arm/platter clearance on-the-fly. The VTA (vertical tracking angle) is set by several small round weights hanging on one side of the counterweight. By sliding them around the VTA from the front of the cartridge can be made perpendicular to the record.

The arm came with two headshells and two fragile sets of headshell leads. The tiny plug fits into the back of the tonearm just behind the cartridge. This lets you swap out headshells in seconds with the turn of a screw. However without these proprietary items there is no easy way to properly mount a cartridge so don't lose them. The wires are 44g so I'm glad mine are intact although the copper is a bit tarnished after four decades.

In late 2024 I decided to resurrect the turntable which I had not used for quite a while. On a whim I contacted Magnepan who actually still had a parts kit in stock for the Unitrac(!) When the package arrived I became the proud owner of a set of NOS parts in pristine condition. Everything including the headshell wires looked like it had been produced yesterday. Of special interest was the replacement RCA cable which unplugs from the base of the arm under the plinth. I was able to replace my worn-out cable in 1 minute. But I was puzzled by the ground wire paired with the RCA cable because I have a wooden base. Where did it connect?

Per the Magnepan manual: "The ground wire, with spade lugs, must be connected to the preamplifier ground lug and turntable chassis ground. (it will vary between turntables). Caution! Do not attempt to ground arm, as it is grounded internally!"

My TT had a long ground wire out of the motor section. To integrate it I installed a tiny "Euro terminal block" under the base. To it I ran the platter ground wire and the RCA ground wire. The preamp end of the RCA ground wire went to my preamp lug. This made for a clean inline install.