Phono cable, are they really different?

VPI email me today and state that they do not use Discovery cable in their arm nor their phono cable. This is contrary to what I have read on discussion forum, but maybe VPI switched vendor recently. Or maybe VPI just doesn't want people to buy straight from the vendor.

I am aware of EMI/RFI issue that weak phono signal has to battle and phono cable should provide better shielding than vanilla RCA cables. But what about impedance or capacitance? What's the typical cartridge output impedance/capacitance and is there a need to match up phono cable to your cartridge to minimize top end loss for example?

Wondering if any cable manufactures have a white paper on this topic.

Well, I just got words from Pure Note this morning my Cerulean, a great cable by the way, is not designed for phono application. My table is not here yet, so I can't experiment with my Audience or Pure Note.

Like Rello suggested, AQ with DBS should be a good choice. I wonder what else is out there without costing an arm and a leg, say $500 or less used?

Agaffer,

You read most of my mind. I was wondering what made a phono cable unique other than EMI/RFI rejection ratio. Take digital cable for example, it is designed with different impedance all together.

As for sound difference, I was interested in difference between dedicated phono vs. generic RCA cable. Take Audience AU24 for example, Audience also makes phono version of this highly popular cable. Is it just better shielding? We all know dielectric does change sound, so how does it sound when compared to stock AU24? Same applies for other brands like Harmonic and Cardas.

As for VPI & Discovery cable, I also thought VPI did not want people to go straight to the source. But Discovery web page made no mention of phono cable, what gives?