Turn Table Cable Length

I have a Grado Sonata 2, the one with the wooden body.   I see they have a Sonata 3 out now, which is identical in appearance.   In general though, all Grados are fairly insensitive to cable capacitance.   I don't know at what they upper limit is specified.

Which Grado cartridge, and what are the components in the rest of your system?  Thanks.

It really depends on the cartridge and how much capacitance it can tolerate.   Grado cartridges can typically tolerate a lot more capacitance than others.   Yes, getting a second preamp next to the tonearm and then running a long cable from its output makes sense if the preamp is of the quality you expect from your system.   
I have a similar situation, about 13 feet of cable from tonearms to preamp.  I bought a Stereophile Class C rated preamp, which was rather inexpensive, and put it on one tonearm leaving the other to deal with the 13 feet.   Turns out the tonearm dealing with 13 feet sounded better than the one with the preamp.   
So, I put the preamp on the other tonearm.   The long run still sounded better than the preamp run.   I wasn't expecting that result but it is what I got.   Eventually, I will put a high quality preamp next to the turntable but for now, I am listening to 13 feet of coax and the Class C rated preamp is on the tonearm I use the least.

I'd like to thank the of you that provided excellent technical advice as well as sound opinions.  This will help me make a good choice on what to do next.  I have some homework and research to now do and will re-post back here when I come to a conclusion and solution, so, stand by please!

For those of you (and there was only one) that act like you are above it all and look down on the rest of us, and yes, you know who you are...answer me this...who taught you?  were they as dismissive towards you as you are towards others?  You realize that as a definition of "forum", nowhere does it say that part of the process of sharing ideas & views is to belittle others.  You might be better served in other forums where your vitriol is desired.

...lighten up....*sheesh*

MC, just because one asks a simple question doesn't mean loosing a sucker punch at him.  Nearly all the other respondents offer a nice simple solution to the query without acting dismissive about it.

'Once upon a time, there was a young MC that for all his interest and enthusiasm...
.... was an audio zero, absolutely clueless....'

Now....where and how did MC the Magnificent gain all this depth of knowledge to replace the dearth that preceded it?

Could it be..*Preg Pause*...Other People?! *fanfare of obligatory surprise* 

Even if a book or mag, still the churls known as 'other people'...*repeat fanfare, somewhat subdued*

(Rumor has it...Time spent in a suspended wicker basket...with only One opening...Later tales of being under the spell of a dream goddess clad in mica, flicking a 2ga OFC clear cable while bound to 6AX7, overdriven....)

*fanfare of the bored*

Look....MC.....we get it.  You're smart, and you know your shtick (substituted noun).  You're a great wordsmith....(I appreciate that, really...).

But...why do you have to act like you're something that should have been left outside in a small bag after The Incident with the dog?

I might even buy you the 2nd round.  Weirder things Do occur...;)

As usual, Atmasphere gives a complete and accurate answer. In case you don't know it, OP, Ralph is an expert.

Oh my. Either the OP thought better of his irrational outburst or some prude had it removed. What a shame. Still, surely this summary of sage advice deserves to pass the test of time:

20ft on turntable will give you diffuse sound with crappy detail.Good luck.

This is a really Bad Idea!

that is a very bad idea

If you have a moving magnet cartridge this is a really bad idea

Mine as usual is the same only better:

At 20 feet, to say perfection isn't in the hunt is, uh, redundant. So buy 20 feet of wire. Whatever.

Humble genius?
I’m a monkey’s uncle.

You’ll get much better SQ putting a cheap (<$200) phono pre by the TT and 20 ft. of generic phono cable over to your amp(s).
USB or SPDIF would probably sound better at a MUCH greater cost.

20ft on turntable will give you diffuse sound with crappy detail.Good luck.

Or you can get a phono stage with USB output like the Pro-Ject AD Box S2 close to the turntable and use a 20' USB cable connect to USB input of your DAC or amplifier digital input if available.

@smccarthy  This is a really Bad Idea! Here's why:

The cartridge has an inductance. The tonearm cable has a capacitance. They are in parallel; when this is so an inductance and capacitance produce an electrical resonance. If its a MM cartridge the resonance will be in the audio band (the response will be a long way from flat). If a LOMC the resonance is slightly higher Q value (more peaked, due to the nature of a moving coil) and will be about 1/3rd the frequency that it would normally be (which might be from 100KHz to 2-3MHz)


In the case of the former obviously you want this outside of the audio band. In the case of the latter, that peak, if energized, can and does overload the input of many phono preamp designs (resulting in ticks and pops). The lower you make that frequency, the more likely the phono section will have bandwidth; the easier it will be to overload it.


If you really want to go that length, you'll need, at the turntable, either a preamp with a balanced output or a transformer that is used to run a balanced line to your phono section where it it converted back to single ended with another transformer, if you don't have a balanced input on the phono preamp.

If you are talking about a distance between the tonearm and the phono stage of 20 feet, that is a very bad idea regardless of what type of cartridge you will use, but it is an especially bad idea for a low output moving coil cartridge. Can you figure out some way to place the phono stage close to the turntable, within 3 ft ideally?And then it would be more acceptable to run a long cable from the output of the phono stage to your line stage. This is not just audiophile fussiness. A 20 foot phono cable will seriously degrade your listening pleasure.

If you have a moving magnet cartridge this is a really bad idea as the added cable capacitance is going to really screw up the high frequencies.
You can get an inexpensive phono stage, very small and put it next to the table then as mentioned above run long interconnects from it to your amp. It is still not ideal but a bunch better then running long turntable cables.

Your cartridge is MM/MI or MC? 

Preferable to have a shorter length from turntable to amp and longer interconnects or speaker cables. If tt is your only source than move your amp together.
G

What imhifman said, short run to phono amp, longer interconnect. Keep in mind, the signal coming out of the cart is very low output and after 2-3’ (maybe shorter) the signal is degrading. Get your phono pre close if you can. 

If possible install a phono stage with balanced output close to the turntable and use 20' cable connect to your preamp line in.

Wow, MC. That was so productive and helpful to the OP. You're a humble genius shines through yet again. Anyhow, for the OP, there are lots of threads here about the efficiency of interconnect cable length. Generally the shorter the better; however, is there any way you can move your amplification to where your turntable is and just get longer speaker cable?

At 20 feet, to say perfection isn't in the hunt is, uh, redundant. So buy 20 feet of wire. Whatever.