Can anyone recommend a good balanced phono cable

Thanks guys for all your help. BigBucks, I will certainly check on the wiring schematic before I purchase.

03-30-11: Marakanetz
Bigbucks,
It's a piece of cake to rewire tonearm for balanced cables by splitting ground wire onto both channels and than connecting pos-neg correspondedly to XLR plugs. The cartridge output is realy meant to be balanced, but there are not too many phonostages that have balanced input.
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I realize that. My point was that if you order a cable with XLRs, you better KNOW how it is being wired by the mfgr, because he may not wire the way you think. So a word to the wise is to check the wiring scheme before buying.

The balanced Jelco (Mogami) cable is probably too cheap to really garner much respect but it is, IMO, a very good phono cable.

Cryo it and have it burned in on something like the Audiodharma cable cooker and I would expect it to give some seriously priced balanced phono cables a pretty good run for their money. If you don't like it, you can sell it and perhaps lose $50-$75.

Quite a bit better in my setup than a phono cable constructed using 4 x 24 shielded Cardas wire.

I use a pr. of balanced Audioquest Skys with great results from my table to BAT VK-P10. Also use the same from phono to BAT REX preamp.

Bigbucks,
It's a piece of cake to rewire tonearm for balanced cables by splitting ground wire onto both channels and than connecting pos-neg correspondedly to XLR plugs. The cartridge output is realy meant to be balanced, but there are not too many phonostages that have balanced input.

Keep in mind that just because you order phono cables with XLR connectors DOESN'T automatically make them balanced. I found this out when I contacted Kimber to see how they wired up their phono cable with XLRs one one end and a DIN on the other...they weren't wired for best performance according to phono amp mfgrs like ASR.

The recommended wiring is cart +/- to XLR pins 2/3 (both channels). Phono shield connected to XLR pin 1 (both channels). NO shield connection at DIN end. Tonearm ground wire connected to DIN 5th pin and phono amp ground lug.

Hi I used to have that BAT phono stage you have along with a 51SE preamp. great combo! I miss them sometimes, BAT has a weight in the midrange that's hard to find elsewhre. I ran my BAT phono single ended at first and then switch to XLR's. Balanced in better on that phono stage, gain goes up 6db and noise way down allowing more of everything to emerge.

I used several cables over the years with it. The Graham IC 50, Hovland, Cardas Golden Reference then several Purist Audio Designs. (Venustas, Protues Provectus and Proteus Provustus Praesto).

Several here also state the really like the Silver Breeze.

The Purist cables are very hard to beat, excellent tonality, quiet background, great at everything, but a little expensive.

All of these cables can be ordering in the XLR config you need. Price and system matching are really the next questions for you...

I have the Basis Exclusive which has both balanced and SE and they recommended the same thing. I just got a Cardas GR balanced cable and am quite happy with it; I was using the silver cable that came with my Graham arm.