25' balanced ic that a mere mortal can afford?

Sound Quest Pro Series Zero Point Reference Interconnect

Very, very inexpensive. Very, very neutral. It took me forever to find something better and the silver reference acoustic zen finally won out but I would not have bought the zen if I didn't buy it used at a great price. Even with the used price, the zen was 15 times more expensive than the sound quest. It's a fantastic balanced XLR cable.

Try Blue Jeans Cable. Competes with mega buck cables @ a fraction of the price.

You state that you are moving your phono system away from your speakers. This indicates that the rest of the stereo is staying where it is, correct? If so, I assume you are moving the phono preamp too. (If not, you should, as a 25 foot run from the turntable to the phono preamp is a bit too long, IMHO.)

As far as a cable, I recommend the Nordost Quatro Fil. I use it for my preamp to amp run (a 4 meter cable) and my friend used to use it in the same application in his system. (His was a 6 meter cable, which is almost what you are looking at.) This is a very neutral cable, with good resolution and detail, and it is very good for the price. Long runs don't seem to affect the sound much either. (The price has dropped considerably, now that current Quatro Fil owners, like my friend, are upgrading to the Valhallas, and dumping their Quatro Fils. The used price for a 7 meter Quatro Fil should be around $1,800.00) FYI: I have heard the difference between the Quatro Fil and the Valhalla, (both in my system and in my friend's system), and while there is a difference, it is so subtle, that I don't feel I am missing much by not upgrading.

I prefer the Quatro Fil to both the Straightwire Serenade and the Cardas Golden Reference that it replaced. (Although the Golden Reference was a pretty good cable too, and I would recommend that if you like a touch of warmth to your sound.)

My two cents worth.

IMO, a 25' line level IC is just TOO long. Even if balanced, you'd be pushing it (asking for EMI and RFI) for the relatively lower strength line signal (lower than your tuner or CD) coming out of a phono preamp. I'd advise against it. If you want to move your main preamp and the rest of your components along with your TT/phono preamp that's another story (and a very popular arrangement.)

.

www.partsexpress.com has balanced microphone cable in 3,10,15,25 and 50 foot runs. I have the 50 foot run and it sounds good.

Kurt, Reread the lad's title.
Porzio, Here, here! Or is it hear, hear! BJC have the best deals going. I'm very happy with my XLRs and I hope to buy again as my tri-amp rig develops.

THANKS FOLKS!!

Apogee Wyde Eye - a lot better than the Canare when I tried both - they have a 10m pair with gold pinned Neutriks.

Based on previous experience, I gotta go with Nsgarch, here.

Nsgarch is 100% right....you're just asking for trouble. To do this properly you need to add a separate balanced pre-pre-amp at the turntable end and prior to this long run. Save money, get some ordinary balanced IC from a music outlet (where they sell guitars) and then put the money towards a good balanced pre-pre-amp.

Surely he didn't mean running 25 feet from turntable to preamp...