Tonearm Cable Question

If you are going to re-wire the phono cable, it is best to do the entire job, from headshell to RCA plugs, all in one run. As Viridian says, breaks in the tonearm cable are bad. There are a number of companies that make full re-wire kits that have no breaks, and are continuous from the cartridge all the way to the preamp. Incognito is one of these companies. It is quite a job to re-wire an arm, and it takes some expertise and patience. If your arm already has a connector at the base of the arm post, there are cables from Cardas and Audience, and others, that have these connectors. They could provide better performance than stock. You should use cables that are specifically made for phono cables, because of shielding, inductance, and capacitance requirements on the low level cartridge signals.

I asked a similar question some time ago, with respect to a Linn. Here are edited (for brevity) responses from TWL and another 'gonner:

From TWL:
Cp,... I can tell you that the cable routing of the tonearm cable through the P-Clip in the base of the TT is paramount to the proper operation of the suspension of the Linn TT. If these requirements are not met, the TT will sound like poo-poo. The stock Linn cable is not the greatest cable on Earth, but it will at least let the TT be set up like it is supposed to be....Personally, I would leave it alone. If there is a problem with the sound of your TT, I would suspect set-up problems, or need for adjustment. Your audio dealer obviously knows nothing about a Linn, and you would be well advised to steer well clear of him on these matters. This is a job for someone that knows what he is doing.

From Sc53:
I had my Linn dealer replace the stock Linn tonearm/preamp cable for me with a Cardas balanced cable that Ayre sold for use with the phono stage of its K3 preamp. After a lot of struggle, he got that Cardas cable properly mounted and threaded through my LP-12. Unbelievably, I felt I liked the old cable better, and had him change it back! But if the dealer knows what he's doing, it can be done.

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Grist for the mill!

Ramond, I am talking about cable between the tonearm and preamp.

I have been shopping for a new tonearm cable, and also learning along the way. In a tonearm cable, the cable is real subcepible to low frequency (motor) what silver audio people explained to me it has everything to do w/ sheilding of the signal wire.A regular IC may not have the same sheilding to get rid of low frequency. So tonearm ICS differ from source componants ICS in the sheilding of the signal wire. And then you need to consider the composition and design of the signal wire also. David

Slowhand. Are you asking about IC's from the output of the TT to the phono input, or are you asking about the actual tonearms wiring going to the output of the TT.
If it's about the IC's between TT and pre amp, I'm curious also.

You may want to check into Cardas Audio. They make a fantastic sounding phono cable terminated with DIN to RCA plugs. It's their "Golden Reference phono cable".

I agree with Clueless. Make damn sure the cable will transfer all of that "very small" signal to the phono pre or stepup device.

Most tone dedicated "tone arm" cables have a DIN connector on on end, and RCA's on the other. Some tables have an RCA termination and can use any RCA to RCA cable. The thing to consider here is that a sheilded cable may be of some benifit between table and pre, in addition to having something that passes the signal transparently.

I'm no authority in this area but you have to be especially careful w/ the lead from the arm because the signal is so weak. It cannot drive much R,C,or L. Talk to Twl.

I remain,