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Tonearm Cable:different from regular IC? Best one?

Hi Folks:
I have a tone arm (and Airtech MG-1 Air bearing tone arm) that has typical RCA coaxial R/L outputs, allowing me to use a regular RCA coaxial stereo IC cable between the arm and my preamp with phono (Supratek Syrah).

Question I have is - do I need to be somehow mindful of certain IC choice between tonearm and preamp, as a function of the type of signal output from the tone arm (which I assume is very low level), or can I simply mix and match any IC at my discretion, in the same way that I can from saw a CD player to my preamp?

Thus far, I’ve been using 47 Labs OTA cable (an IC kit where the cable is only about .4mm thick – high grade copper), and some Kimber PJB (only other IC I have that I’m not using already). I’m in the market to spend as much as $800 (used price) on an IC for this application, if the investment is worth it in the context of my overall system (see my virtual system for system details), but am happy to spend less if possible. Cables I’ve considered would include Nordost Valkryja, Stereovox, FIM Gold – but open to other suggestions.

So, I to sum up, I guess I’ve two questions – 1) Can I explore any and all ICs, or should I limit myself to certain ICs that are geared toward phono application? 2) Do you folks have recommendations on choice of IC for this application, at my pricepoint?

Thanks!
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Showing 1 response by raquel

raquel
841 posts
 
While standard IC's will work as tonearm cables, a dedicated tonearm cable is indeed a different animal (at the very least, they have better shielding).

And while your system will only be as good as your weakest link, the tonearm cable, because of the delicate signal it handles, is going to be the most important IC (assuming that you listen to a lot of vinyl).

There are many excellent tonearm cables: Hovland, Kimber TAK, and Analysis Plus are just a few. There is no such thing as a "best one" -- cables are incredibly system-dependent and you therefore cannot rely upon the advice of others. You just have to try as many good ones as you can and choose the one that works best in your system.
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