Extending phono ground cable

Bob,

I'm going old school with my turntable setup: I recently bought a Thorens TD-124 Mk II, an SME 3009 Type II Improved and a Shure V15 Type IV - all bought seperately on ebay. This rig sounds great running through my MAC equipment. Unfortunately, due to my cabinet setup, I'm forced to extend the phono audio cable to about 12 feet. Otherwise I would just use the phone section in the MAC preamp, which is as good as any stand-alone phono preamp out there.

I'll take a look at the AR PH3. It has been very well reviewed. The Clearaudio Basic Plus can also be found used, and it seems to be a nice unit as well.

-Greg

The Audio Research PH-3 is an excellent phono stage, and it can usually be bought used for about $600 to $700. My recollection is that it has 54dB of gain, which is sufficient to handle medium-output MCs in addition to higher output MCs and MMs. My brother has been running the PH-3 for years with a medium-output Benz Glider (0.8mV), and the compatibility is excellent.

As an ammendment to my last post, I prefer the phono preamp to support both MM and MC cartridges.

-Greg

Thank you for your response, Bob.

I'll look into purchasing a phono preamp. I've seen reviews on some good ones for about $1,000, but I prefer not to spend more than $500. Here are some that have been well reviewed:

Grado PH-1 Phono Stage - $500.00
Bellari VP129 Tube Phono Preamp - $250.00
PS Audio GCPH Phono Stage - $1,000.00 (more than I want to spend)

I know that there is already another thread on this topic, but can anyoune recommend a good phono preamp for $500?

Much appreciated.
-Greg

Greg, the signal that is carried by your phono cable from your tonearm/cartridge to your phono preamplification stage is a very, very small signal (often less than 1 millivolt, which is roughly 1/1000th of the voltage level of a typical line level signal from the output of a typical source component like a CD player or a tuner). As a result, it is best to keep your phono cable as short as possible - typically about 1 meter. If you go longer than about 1.5 meters, you will often encounter problems with noise or loss of signal integrity.

On the other hand, once the signal from your cartridge has been amplified by your phono preamplifier (which can be either a stand-alone phono stage housed in its own chassis and purchased separately from your preamp or a built-in phono stage housed within a full-function preamplifier), you can then use a much longer pair of interconnects to pass this line level signal on to your preamplifier or amplifier.

I gather that your phono stage is housed within a full-function preamp. If so, it would be best to relocate your preamp to a shelf that is very close in proximity to your turntable. Another alternative would be to use a stand-alone phono stage, which can be located close to your turntable and connected to a line level input on your preamplifier using a longer pair of interconnects.

I have a built in cabinet system im my home. For the last few years i have been running it without a turntable. I am now adding a turntable to the mix :)

On the right side of my TV is an encolosure holding my equipment, amp, preamp, CD player and tuner. I was hoping to put the turntable on the left side enclosure and running wires from the TT to the preamp, around the TV, with cables running 10 feet or more. Is this practicle?

Thank you for any information.
-Greg

You may want to consider grounding to the phono stage. I'm assuming that you have that unit close to your table since you're not asking about longer leads. You may also be able to ground to the nearest AC plug. The screw in the center that holds the plate on is most likely grounded through the plus.

Yes, I have done this with success. Just use any piece of wire you have lying around--it won't affect the sound. Extending the RCA's would be a different story. You probably don't want 10 feet of cable between your tonearm and phono pre.