Last nights listening session was interrupted when one speaker went silent! The culprit was the wire had loosened from the RCA connector on that side of the table to phono preamp - not the first time this has happened. I have a mish-mash of interconnects - Cord, Monster, Blue Jeans, now I'm thinking I should replace the interconnects between the turntable and phono preamp, and also between the phone pre and the preamp.
My system: VPI Classic 3, Zesto Andros 1.2, ARC LS27
I'm not interested in spending multiple thousands of dollars, maybe a few hundred to a thousand or so. Anti Cables seem to be reasonably priced. What other brands should I consider?
I was never one who was much for the cable thing .
I had a Bluejeans Cable LC-1 standatd IC , which I had been using all along on my tt's .
I began reading up on cables that would maybe be more appropriate for my new tt . I found a few articles claiming that due to the very small voltage going through the cable to the phonostage , it would be better to run smaller diameter wire in this particular cable . I then found tonearm/phono cables listed separately from regular IC's at some cable company sites . It made sense , so I gave The Cable Company a call and rented two 'phono' cables that they had recommended . OH MY !!!
What a vast improvement . This is what I was looking for when I upgraded my tt . Both of the rented cables provided me with biggest improvement of any upgrade that I have ever done ! A simple cable , just a few pieces of wire , what could be the big deal ? Well I am a believer now !
Give John a call at The Cable Company and ask for his suggestion on what brands to try out . The one that I chose to purchase was less than $500 for a used cable . He cooks all of his cables before the sale . I also read that the cable in this particular location never really gets broken in through use , again , because of the tiny voltage passing through it .
I also have a VPI Classic 3. I have Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper cables with locking RCAs between my TT and phono pre amp. Between the phono pre amp and the pre amp I still use the AZ Absolute Copper cables but with XLR connections. They don’t come loose. I love the way they sound.
This guy did a nice job for me. I asked for 24g conductor (thinner wire is better for tiny phono signals I’m told and it lowered the cost) DIN plug, custom length, etc. He did it all. Nice improvement on an Alexandria with a Denon DL-301. They don’t look anything like the picture. Turnaround time is a few weeks, for me just under 2.
I have a VPI Classic 3 Sig. SE. Here is my cable history with this tt so far:
Blue Jeans (not revealing enough) VPI (introduced hum in my system, returned it for refund) Grover Huffman phono (about a 5 year old cable, sounded decent) Morrow Audio PH-6 ( too forward or bright with this tt) Bob's Devices mid level cable (sounded VERY good) Anti Cable 6.2 cryo'd ( beat the Bob's by a hair) I'm currently using these.
In my system, the Bob's is the better value. From my memory, BJC, Bob's, A-C are the lowest in capacitance.
I switched to all Mogami, both RCA and balanced. Cannot be happier. Noise/hum level went down. Low capacitance helps with phono connection too. They also give lifetime warranty. I do not think anything else is better unless you want to use cable as tone control.
@fundsgon For the love of everything aurally holy grab some Audioquest Colorados at music direct. They are 60% off!! I took advantage of the sale and have my entire system wired with them now! They have .5m. 1m. and 1.5 m. lengths available. I have a VPI Scout, with a Dynavector DV20X2, using a 1m. pair into my phono pre and then a .5m. pair into my line stage. Clean, clear and dynamic. A truly rare opportunity to "steal" some fine cables on an amazing closeout sale. https://www.musicdirect.com/equipment/audioquest-colorado-interconnects-pr
In the days back the external turntable interconnects came with ground wire bonded as one stereo cable with 2 RCA ends at each end. The signal wires there are 26AWG or thinner. That is to say that dedicated wires for turntable with fine gauge should work. Having another set of VPI wires will be most reasonable.
I have a classic 1 ,low output benz , This is jmho i ran some blue jeans for a minute,the sound was ok . I switched out my acoustic zen reference 2 one day for fun ,the change was not subtle .The soundstage opened up and my low end just cleaned up alot.I run all az cables now,and have done blind swaps with numerious freinds, its substantial .The ref 2 all all silver so they have there own sound vs copper etc.I bought all my interconnect used here ,a set of ref 2 1meter average around 325.00 used (700 retail or so). I just shortened some of my interconnect to .5 and .75 meter and may sell some of my az cables that are 1m and my dig mc2 .This is NOT an add lol if you are be interested pm me ..No affiliation to az other then a fan cheers
@fundsgon i’ve been using Chris Sommovigo’s interconnects and speaker cables for years, first it was Stereovox Colibry (with his own Xhadow RCA) and later Stereolab Master Reference Phono (with his own LoveCraft RCA) which is the best interconnect i’ve ever heard, but they are expensive. I've bought mine as a demo (used). Chris has moved from USA to Japan, very nice guy to deal with, always helpful.
Now when i need nice and budget phono interconnects for multiply tonearms i’m gonna buy ( Signal Cable Silver Resolution Reference from Frank in NY. That’s what was recommended by a’gon members (thanks to Don and Nandric). Frank is also a’gon member, for me it was easier to reach him via a’gon direct messages. His cables are reasonably priced, i’m looking forward to buy from him. This is his a’gon nickname: frank9740
Not sure if the connection to the RCA jack is loose, or if there is something loose inside of the plug, but both interconnect cables now don't work. I swapped in a set of Audio Note interconnects from another system and everything works again, but still will change both sets; maybe the Discovery interconnects.
My problem is I don't want to start chasing interconnects, just want a decent one that doesn't hurt the signal or sound.
If your VPI arm is wired with the Discovery wire get you a set of VPI phono cables which is Discovery wiring also, I have settled on this after trying a lot of others of all prices and don't need to look any more.
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