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Best budget DIN phono cable? Too many to choose

I'm thinking of getting another KAB SL-1200 and might just have Kevin do the Cardas DIN connector as part of the tonearm rewire.

I'd need a right-angle Cardas DIN terminated cable and have looked at one available on E-Bay, one from Ultimate Cables in Canada, another from Extremephono, and, of course, there's always Signal Cable's Silver Resolution series too:

- E-Bay/SLC Silver Tonearm Cable: 26-guage silver plated OFC with Eichman Bullets - $199

- Ultimate Cable Silver Series C4 Tonearm Cable: 22-guage 50% 99.999 pure silver and 50% 99.999% oxygen free copper coated in Teflon with Neutrik RCAs - $145

- Extremephono Crimson: doesn't specify materials or guage other than it's copper (big help...). It appears to be a Jelco JAC-502 that Extremephono is importing (LP Gear also sells this cable as the LP Gear Soar T3). They emphasize that it's designed specifically for use with MC carts - which may work well with my Dyna 20XL. Proprietary DIN and RCAs - $159

- Signal Cable Silver Resolution Reference Phono/Tonearm Cable: 24-guage 5N multi-strand pure silver with Eichman Silver Bullets - $229

My gut says just go with Frank's Silver Resolution cable, but the cheapskate in me says try the Ultimate Cable C4 and save $85!

Any thoughts?
vinyladdict
6 responses Add your response
sinisterporpoise68
63 posts
 
I was using the Signal Cable Phono (RCA to RCA) on my Scout for a while. It sounded great--really punchy in the bass and well-balanced. Ultimately, I had to switch it out when it started picking up radio frequencies when I bought an external phono stage.

Out of all of those, go with the Signal Cable. If it gives you any problems, I believe Signal Cable will take it back before 30 days are up.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I have had very good results from Sweetcome in Hong Kong. They made new umbilical cables and a new power cord for my MF NuVista M3 amp and they were a big step up. They have an extensive line of arm cables at around $100 that look good. They are on Ebay.
casey33
260 posts
 
I also bought a Sweetcome Cable (on eBay) for a Grace Arm.Around $100 build quality and performance were very satisfying.As advertised and quick delivery.
waynefia
156 posts
 
I bought the Ultimate Cable , and it is nice quality. I have not used it yet. I also liked his cable design explanation. You can buy from his web site, or he sells on Audiogon. Mine seemed a bit cheaper, but is the straight DIN. Ultimate only makes a few different cable types, which allows him to concentrate on those, and claims to keep the cost down.
randyk
70 posts
 
I've been using the Ultimate Cable with straight DIN for about a year. Wanted to add a little "silver" to my internal copper-wired Ikeda tonearm. Very nice cable -- flexible, quiet and great for the money. Fast delivery, too. I'm happy.
mikesmith
28 posts
 
Take a look at Grover Huffman's phono cable. It's not that much money and it's quite good. It's also flexible enough and small enough that, without the DIN shell, you may get away with a straight DIN which I believe brings the cost down.
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