Buzz on Cheap Phono Cable

[Alex Bourke]

It has taken me a long time getting my turntable set up to a good standard, even with my limited funds.

I had my turntable next to my amp with a small 1 meter phono cable. I moved the amp and turntable a few days ago and to connect the two I needed the previous cable plus and extension. Not an ideal set up, so I purchased a 10 meter gold cheap phono cable off ebay. I thought the gold cable would give me a quality sound.

With the previous set up I used standard (not gold) phono cables and I had to turn the amp to about 80%+ to start getting a buzz, acceptable cos I would never have it that loud. With the new gold cable, it starts to buzz about 40%, totally not acceptable if I need it louder on quiet tracks.

I asking for a refund for the cheap cable but my question is:

I have seen a few types of gold cables out there on ebay (I don't know what their names are). Without paying a lot of money, what type would anyone recommend?

If anyone could give links/pics that would be great

 

[markw]

Ten meters is way too long for a phono level cable. If you need that length between your TT and your main preamp then you should use a standalone phono preamp near the turntable. Three feet (one meter) is about the maximum I'd run a phono level signal. Of course, once the standalone phono pre raises it to line level you can use longer cables.

 

[Alex Bourke]

Why is 1 meter the max you would run? I am using old phono cables at the moment and it is about 4 meters. It is old and not gold but sounds okay for cheap stuff I found in the shed.

I wanted a cheap good cable. Unfortunately I can not afford the pre-amp etc but wanted advice on the cable. If you had to use a 5 meter cable and it was your only option, what one would you go for?

I understand this is not ideal and I understand also that the longer the cable the more interference you could get but I don't have a lot of options.

Do shielded cables work better over longer distances?

Thanks.

 

[TLS Guy]

Your problem is the length of the cable. Phono cartridges have a very low output, 3 to 5 mv. So loss of signal and especially high frequency ones is a big problem with long runs. An even bigger problem is picking up interference, especially AC hum in the house. The longer the cable the more you pick up.

You absolutely can not use ANY 10 meter phono cable. And you must use good shielded cable for all phono and line level connections.

So you need to move the turntable near the amp, or convert the phono cartridge output to equalized line level with a preamp. You have two choices and ONLY those two. So stop wishing for something you can't have right now.

 

[Alex Bourke]

Well, that was a slap on the wrist, hehe. But I think I needed it!

Looks like I will have to move my amp but I will purchase a shielded cable though.

Thanks for the replies. You guys know your stuff and it is extremely useful having you guys out there. Ta

 

[Swerd]

This is the reason why turntables come with 1 meter phono cables hard-wired to the turntable. They don't want people swapping them out for longer cables.

 

[highfigh]

This is the reason why turntables come with 1 meter phono cables hard-wired to the turntable. They don't want people swapping them out for longer cables.

Some companies are making their turntables with RCA jacks, so the user can decide which cable sounds best, on their own. Yeah, I know, but with different capacitance/inductance, etc, an overly bright cartridge can be tamed. If the person wants to try enough different cables. And waste a lot of time searching for something that could be solved by turning the Treble control down one notch.

 

[slipperybidness]

Some companies are making their turntables with RCA jacks, so the user can decide which cable sounds best, on their own. Yeah, I know, but with different capacitance/inductance, etc, an overly bright cartridge can be tamed. If the person wants to try enough different cables. And waste a lot of time searching for something that could be solved by turning the Treble control down one notch.

My Pro-Ject has RCA jacks. My Technics SL1210 has hard-wired red/white, about 1 meter length.

I may do an RCA jack mod on my Technics one day.

 

[Swerd]

Some companies are making their turntables with RCA jacks, so the user can decide which cable sounds best, on their own. Yeah, I know, but with different capacitance/inductance, etc, an overly bright cartridge can be tamed. If the person wants to try enough different cables. And waste a lot of time searching for something that could be solved by turning the Treble control down one notch.

I hope these products come with a proper length RCA cable, and a note informing the owner that a longer cable should not be substituted.

Some turntables do come with selectable internal phono preamps, and the warning to avoid using longer cables applies only when the preamp is not used.

My Pro-Ject has RCA jacks. My Technics SL1210 has hard-wired red/white, about 1 meter length.

I may do an RCA jack mod on my Technics one day.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it .

 

[highfigh]

My Pro-Ject has RCA jacks. My Technics SL1210 has hard-wired red/white, about 1 meter length.

I may do an RCA jack mod on my Technics one day.

I have a Sony PS-X600 from about 1982 and the cables were soldered in, but in the late-'90s, I decided they were too cheesy, so I replaced the cable. Since it's not possible to have made that change quickly, it's also not possible to say with any amount of certainty that it made anything better but I stopped using it around 2007 I had an AVR with no MC input and I didn't want little boxes laying around. Now that I can use it again, I have to say that changing the cables hasn't hurt the sound in any way- I really like the sound.

My issue with the jacks is that it adds connection points to the signal path.

 

[highfigh]

I hope these products come with a proper length RCA cable, and a note informing the owner that a longer cable should not be substituted.

Some turntables do come with selectable internal phono preamps, and the warning to avoid using longer cables applies only when the preamp is not used.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it .

I think some have taken "keep the cables as short as possible" to an extreme when they slap a 3' on it and think it's long enough. That's usually long enough to require placing the turntable on top of a receiver, integrated amp or preamp when the rest of the system is in a vertical rack of some kind. They need to realize that the days of a rack with a flip-up glass top are gone.

 

[Swerd]

I think some have taken "keep the cables as short as possible" to an extreme when they slap a 3' on it and think it's long enough. That's usually long enough to require placing the turntable on top of a receiver, integrated amp or preamp when the rest of the system is in a vertical rack of some kind. They need to realize that the days of a rack with a flip-up glass top are gone.

You're right about that.

When I originally integrated my old stereo system into a 5 channel HT system, my turntable's cables would not reach my AVR. So I bought a RCA extension cable that was about 5 or 6 feet long. I figured somewhat compromised is better than nothing.

A few years later, I switched to a different receiver that lacked any phono inputs. I picked up an inexpensive phono preamp, and used what ever length RCA cable I needed downstream from the preamp. Could I hear a difference due to the cable differences? I'll never know because at the same time I began using a different phono preamp and AVR.

 

[highfigh]

You're right about that.

When I originally integrated my old stereo system into a 5 channel HT system, my turntable's cables would not reach my AVR. So I bought a RCA extension cable that was about 5 or 6 feet long. I figured somewhat compromised is better than nothing.

A few years later, I switched to a different receiver that lacked any phono inputs. I picked up an inexpensive phono preamp, and used what ever length RCA cable I needed downstream from the preamp. Could I hear a difference due to the cable differences? I'll never know because at the same time I began using a different phono preamp and AVR.

Too many variables at one time and too much time passing makes it impossible to know, for sure.

Some differences are striking, though. When I bought my first DVD player, I connected it with the cables from my VCR and immediately wondered if I could return it- the sound was terrible. I'm not in the pocket of Big Cable but those were terrible- the cheap, molded-end stereo/composite video cables that are often displayed in a plastic bag and hanging on a hook, which I had bought several of, for those jobs that needed to be finished instead of making a special trip in the middle, wasting time. I swapped the cable from my CD player and the improvement was drastic. I thought I was hearing things that didn't exist, so I swapped them again and verified that the CD player sounded worse, so I threw the cheap ones out and did the same with all of the others like them- it was too late to return them, so I put them with my other scrap cabling.