Dedicated phono cable or quality IC


I am new to vinyl and loving it. I have a Music Hall MMF-7, Sumiko Phono Box, Cary SLP50A pre-amp to a pair of Linn LK-85's and Linn Ninka speakers Activ. I have been looking around at upgrading the IC's in the TT to Cary chain. Am using the supplied cable from Music Hall to the sumiko then a spare set of Linn IC's from there to the Cary. The rest are Yamamura M5000's. I figured I could just use a good IC (looking at HT pro-silway) as the output from the MMF-7 is RCA. Now I see that there are dedicated phono cables and am wondering if, in my case, there is any need. I am using the Eroica high output MC cartridge, so I figured it would be less of an issue. Thoughts and recommendations? Thanks
stuartbranson
I think that with a high output MC cartridge, you will be ok with a good quality interconnect. Input impedance of 47k ohms on the phono input is quite high, and with a HO cartridge, your signal level is not all that tiny. I'd say just to keep the length of the cable to the minimum required, and you'll be fine.
I am going to point you to the following site:

http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-IC-Phono.html

I agree with most of what he says.

A quote from the site follows:

"CAVEAT 1: Never assume a line-level cable will work equally well for the phono signal. My current recommendations should be considered an exception to this rule.

CAVEAT 2: Never assume the same phono cable will work equally well when it is going into a (low-impedance-100 ohm) step-up or the actual (high-impedance-47K Ohm) phono stage. These are very different loads.

The results described below are with the cable going from a step-up (transformer) into a phono stage. A cable going from the turntable into the transformer may have different results."

You can spend hours at this site and save yourself from thousand of $ worth of mistakes

Good luck
get a set of interconnects at your nearest Home Depot, or the equivalent. Wire is wire, it conducts electricity. If you're in doubt, check with digital ohm meter. I know people say all kinds of stuff about capacitance, inductance, and the like, but it's voodoo. Another thing, have someone swap one of the expensive interconnects you have with something from Best Buy, one that you're not sure is which, and see if you can tell the difference. If it's really "night and day" you will spot it immediately. Even Sam Tellig gave in and recommended the 16.95 AR ones sold at Best Buy. Wire is wire as long as the connections are good