The status quo for tonearm to phono stage cable’s is horribly flawed. You can help keep the signal free of interference by changing from “shielded” cables that use one of the signal-bearing conductors as “shield” to shielded twisted pair cable and XLR connectors. The shield on this cable is connected to the tonearm ground, and is grounded at your phono stage. This is your best opportunity for rejecting induced noise on a vinyl playing system.
New efficient speakers - best way to keep noise floor down?
I will be getting some new speakers soon and they will be a lot more efficient (98db compared to 86db) My analog front end is very quiet right now, but I'm thinking the noise floor is going to be a lot more noticeable with the new efficient speakers. Just to get ahead of the situation (in case it ends up bugging me) what is the best way to lower that noise floor? I already have a TT and cart that I love and I also have a good record cleaner, so I'm hoping it may be as simple as focusing on the phono pre-amp? Is that a correct assumption? If so, who makes the quietest noise floor phono stage for MM (and I am talking bang for the buck here - under $700 I'm hoping?) If not a phono stage, what else should I be looking into? Thanks!