Turntable Headshells - Replacing + Improving Factory Wiring

Hello All,

I've been suffering intermittencies with my Shure M447 Headshells. As far as I can tell, the small 1 inch cables (x4) that connect the cartridge to the headshell are very poor quality. The cartridge has 1.2mm male gold plated pins (they look a little oxidized) the cartridge has 1.mm gold male pins they look shiny and clean.

The factory cables are chrome plated female crimp pins.

Does anyone have experience / suggestion for a better female connector (both in 1mm and 1.2) for the headshell / cartridge, and also a recommendation for that 1 inch of wire - lots of mythology exists in the audiophile world... I'm just wondering if the signal part of some mogami / canare instrument cable would do (copper) or if the silver with Teflon coating audiofool stuff will matter in this application?

My idea so far is that the cables need to be soldered rather than crimped, with good wire (ofc copper at least) and that the connectors need to be gold plated also..

My priority is to avoid channels cutting out at gigs - reliability being paramount, and also any gains in sound quality..

Could I be on the right track here?

http://au.element14.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=2100239

I've used the female pins from a computer serial connector, and magnet wire for DIY headshell wiring. Also you can google "Cardas headshell pins" and you should be able to turn up an audiophile solution.

Another wire option is teflon-coated silver wire in very thin gauge from a place that sells it for medical probe wires. This is 40AWG wire with a Teflon coating available from A-M Systems (http://www.a-msystems.com/physiology/products/wire/coatedsilverwire.asp) It is difficult to work with but it is an option and I think they have larger gauges than 40.