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Help Turntable too far from preamp

I just moved, and I decided to put my Rega P25 (with its RB600 tonearm) in my office where my computer is, because I will otherwise not have the chance to listen to records very often. I installed my Rega wall shelf where my stud finder said there were studs for all three screws, but this places my turntable right around a foot too far from where my integrated amp is, which is on top of my desk. The desk cannot be moved, and I can't put a stand closer to the turntable because then the desk drawers can't be opened. If I turn my integrated amp around so the front of the amp faces the rear of the desk, then the tonearm cables reach my amp, but my wife would not be very happy to see all the wires in plain view, not to mention the inconvenience of changing the volume or turning the amp on and off.

So the question is, what can I do about this without spending a lot of money or degrading the sound? (Eventually, I'd like to get a standalone phono preamp so I can use the tube amp currently hooked up to my TV, but right now I don't have the money to buy one as good as the one in my solid state integrated amp. I have a MM cartridge, so my fantasy solution of getting a MC transformer would not work, because then I'd have to buy a MC cartridge to go with it.) Should I get extension cables for my tonearm cable? If so, which ones? Any other ideas?
samuelfigueroa
5 responses Add your response
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
You can add a short pair of extension patch cords as Stanwal suggests, but if you're planning to use the setup this way for any length of time, and don't want to degrade the sound, I'd advise you to:
1.) have the TA cables cut short and terminated at the TT base with a Cardas or other RCA connector box made just for that purpose. Then you can use any pair of quality IC's of the right length to connect to the integrated. And don't forget that with MM carts. you need to add in the capacitance of the cables to determine the proper capacitive loading (or un-loading ;-) at the phono preamp.
2.) have Incognito do their famous Rega tonearm internal re-wire, fitting it with a proper length cable (an extra foot or two won't make a difference if it's good shielded cable.)
.
johnbrown
195 posts
 
Can you move your wall-mounted rack closer to the amp? If that will solve the problem, you don't need to depend on stud placement-use two horizontal, wooden cleats attached to two studs, cut to a length that will place your shelf at your desired location. Attach your shelf to the cleats. For best looks, the cleat length should be cut so that there is an equal amount exposed on either side of the shelf, predicated on hitting those two studs.
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
Maybe a Leap Frog-Terk LF-30s would be worth a try. You could stream the phono to the receiver unit, which you plug in to your pre. I have one of these units and it sounds pretty good.
zenblaster
504 posts
 
My experience with ic's has been to increase the quality of the cable to try and offset any loss from length. Keeping the table further from the amp should result in less interference.
If you can't resolve the issue by moving the table 16 inches (the normal spacing for interior framing) or you don't want to open up the wall to add solid blocking, a longer tonearm cable of better quality would be my solution.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
If you just want a temporary solution get a pair of double female plugs at Radio Shack and use a pair of ordinary ICs to extend the phono lines. You will get a little degradation but it will be much cheaper than getting a longer tonearm cable which you may not need for long. On the other hand for moving magnets the current Creek phono box is quite cheap and better than that in most integrated amps.
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