Phono cable - necessary?

Chakster.
I've never had any hum or radio bleed-through problems with my turntable. The WOW is actually very well-shielded as are many "regular" IC cables on the market. I'm just curious if there is any theoretical or empirical basis and support for the claim that the signal from the cartridge benefits from a different cable than an IC used between a preamp and an amp. 

Chakster, there are many "normal interconnects" that will provide excellent shielding, and can be used successfully in phono applications. Although of course there are others that do not.  For starters, see this recent thread, especially the responses by Atmasphere and Mofimadness, both of whom have exceptionally extensive vinyl experience.

Marek (Actusreus), what the dealer told you is somewhere in the middle ground between a considerable oversimplification and complete nonsense.  And I would suggest that grains of salt be liberally applied to any future recommendations he may provide.

The most basic criteria for a phono cable are good shielding and low capacitance, as Atmasphere indicated in the other thread.  Although as can be seen in that thread there are some who even prefer cables that don’t meet those basic criteria. 

And good shielding and low capacitance can be obtained very inexpensively, witness humble Blue Jeans LC-1 for example, which is excellent in both respects while being nominally intended for use as a line level interconnect.  The ground wire that is often necessary can be implemented separately using ordinary insulated hookup wire of moderate gauge.

I am not necessarily suggesting Blue Jeans, however.  Beyond those basic criteria, as with most cable selection endeavors it comes down to system synergy, the sonic preferences and budgetary preferences of the listener, and trial and error at a variety of price points.

Best regards,
-- Al
 

Al,
Your words of wisdom are greatly appreciated, as always. I actually saw your recommendation for the Blue Jeans cable in a recent phono cable thread started by Pani, and was going to take a look at it. Just curious, what is considered low capacitance for an IC?

... what is considered low capacitance for an IC?

There are no hard and fast thresholds, of course, and the total capacitance of the cable, which is what matters, is directly proportional to its length.  But as a rough rule of thumb, I would consider 20 pf/foot or less to be low, 20 to 40 pf/foot to be medium, and more than 40 pf/foot or so to be highish. 

Blue Jeans LC-1, as you’ve seen, is about 12 pf/foot.

"pf," by the way, is short for picofarads.  1 pf = one trillionth of a farad, a farad being the basic unit of capacitance, although 1 farad represents an **extremely** large amount of capacitance, at least in the context of electronic devices.

Best regards,
-- Al

Almarg "Chakster, there are many "normal interconnects" that will provide excellent shielding, and can be used successfully in phono applications. Although of course there are others that do not."

Yes, not all of them and i've had that issues. It's also depends on the area where you live. When the unshielded cable catch the radio signal and you hear someboby's voice in your speakers it's a strange feeling. Why not use just a phono cable designed for phono signal? 

The construction of Stereolab Master Reference Phono is quite interesting and the sound is spectacular like everything from Chris Sommovigo who desing the cables for a long time.