Zu Audio Mission Phono is great!
Mission Phono mkII is even better, but much more expensive mainly because of the WBT RCA and Cardas DIN.
I doubt you can get anything better that Zu Mission (first generation) under $150, you can always upgrade RCA or DIN as i did, anytime. |
I think so, before Zu became a Loudspeaker manufacturer the company name was Zu Cable and their cables are high quality for sure. You can't go wrong with the Zu Mission, no matter first one or mk2. In fact even stock Zu Mission Phono is absolutely beautiful! I have soldered german DIN connector and using at least 3 of them for my arms (with stock RCA). |
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The reason Zu Audio is better is their own promotional auction style sales on ebay (directly from the manufacturer) for Mission Phono cables. Prices are sweet and cables are brand new. Everyone who's familiar with soldering will tell you it's top quality cable! |
@knollbrent Best phono cable under $500?
@chakster The best cable is used cable, because it is already burned-in and cost 50% less than new. Once i paid $600 for $2000 Stereolab Master Reference Phono cable right here on audiogon. This is what i like about used cables (the price). Stereovox, Stereolab and now The Black Cat are all made by Chris Sommovigo. He’s a guy who invented Xhadow RCA and XLR mentioned by Lewm. Now his new connectors called the LoveCraft premium. But today i will never spend even $500 for a cable. I really like Zu Audio copper Phono cables, i also like Signal Cable Silver Resolution which i am using with Xhadow RCAs. My interconnect and speaker cables are Stereovox Colibri and Stereovox Firebird and i’m using them for decades. In my opinion phono cable itself is about $150, the rest is the cost of the connectors that anyone can choose (Xhadow, WBT, KLE, LoveCraft etc). In my opinion Xhadow RCA is the best connector in the world for DIYers. It does not require soldering of the signal ( there is a screw), only ground. BTW here is some more info about Master Reference Phono cable from Stereolab, this model is discontinued. I don’t know why some cable manufacturers are making new models every year, probably clever marketing. |
Zu Mission is a killer phono cable, but don't mix it up with Mission Interconnect which is cheaper. Phono cable is shielded, interconnect cable is not shielded. Zu Phono kills expensive phono cables, for real. |
DIN or RCA it doesn’t matter, it’s just a connector (depends on tonearm original design), but i’ve missed that you have a wireless speakers! Why do you need so many cables if your signal goes to the wireless speakers in the end? Vinyl is analog media, but wireless speakers .... |
Phono cable must be shielded, good cables have low capacitance anyway, so we don't have to worry about it.
With unshielded cables anyone can listen to a radio in the speakers, it's a free bonus of unshielded cables, i don't think this is what we need.
My experience with unshielded cables is very bad, so i would never buy unshielded cable for phono use.
Have you noticed that the OP is using wireless speakers ? It it a bluetooth technology or radio wave ? I think this is killing the analog, no matter which cable he will use.
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@andysf congrats, i think i paid $150 on auction for the same cable with shipping, but it was long time ago. That cable easily compete with $400 cables, so if you paid $40 it’s a steal :) I like they way Zu Audio sells overstock or discontinued items on ebay. I also use Zu Power cables, i think you can buy some of them too (for a decent price) for your gear. |
RCA connectors filled with epoxy, they are not removable, many top dollar cable manufacturers do the same. To remove stock RCAs user should cut them off. As i said earlier Zu Audio was a cable manufacturer in the beginning, company name was Zu Cable. These guys knows everything about cables. Balanced cables also available from Zu Audio. Their speaker cables are also highly acclaimed. P.S. I use Cardas Solder usually, when we have to fix something. |
@barbapapa you’re right, this is retail price for some of their new cables. I paid $390 for Mission Phono mkII with WBT RCA and Cardas DIN. Special promotion price is only an option for discontinued models overstock and only in auction style. First version of Mission Phono, Mission Interconnect, Mission Power cables normally goes for reasonable price, but starting price is something like $1, so you never know how lucky you’re, it’s auction directly from the manufacturer Zu_promos (from Utah, USA). Try it! |
In my opinion to find something better than Zu Mission copper phono cable you have to spend at least $400 (retail). And if you will replace stock RCA on mission mk1 then this cable compete with some very expensive cables. |
Definitely, cartridge is much more important.
Despite the cartridge and cables the OP is using wireless speakers which is nonsense in analog chain.
Mogami (Jelco) is just a basic cable, nothing special, they are the cheapest, i’ve heard Mogami speaker cables and phono cables, not impressed at all, they are just like the free cables or like those from your local guitar shop. |
@soundermn
well, touch your unshielded phono cable by hand and let me know if you hear hum in your speakers at that moment.
Unshielded cables are problematic for Low Output Moving Coil cartridges, the signal of LOMC is under 0.3mV while the MM signal is 2-5mV. Low signal from MC is extremely sensitive, not like MM.
Not sure which type of cartridges do you use, probably MM or HOMC?
You don’t need a tuner to hear radio in your speakers with unshielded cables :))
It was very interesting when some spanish voice blabling something in my speakers when the tonearm was lifted up. This is because of the unshielded cable only. You never know. To be honest i’ve never seen unshielded phono cable, even those free cables that comes with cheap turntables are all shielded for phono signal.
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@soundermn In my case, I would need a tuner to hear the radio... my cables don’t receive FM broadcasts, as you so arrogantly insist they do. Several people here, including industry experts are saying phono cables don’t need to be shielded in most (not all) cases. Ok, forget about radio, but for the rest of the statement, especially using ART-9, it’s nothing but a miracle. Alleluia! But i don’t believe in miracles, the majority of the cables for a phono application are in fact shielded. There is a difference between interconnects and phono cables, no doubt. Swaping phono and interconnect (even from the same manufacturer) between tonearm and phonostage is not in favor of unshielded cables. This is my experience, but you may like unshielded for whatever reason. So your cable is just what we call "interconnect" ? I can reverse a question and ask you what is a disadvantages of the shielded phono cable in your opinion ? |
