Extending my Phono

[bryanalban]

I have an older Luxman turntable, and the RCA cables are hardwired into the back of the turntable. Where I have the phono in my new setup is farther away, and the cables don't reach my receiver. I know I can get a RCA female-to-male interconnect to extend the length, but what do I do about the ground wire, how do I extend it to connect to the receiver?

I hope I explained the problem clearly, thanks.

 

[Adam]

Hey. All you need to do is make an electrical connection between the grounding wire on the turntable and the grounding connection on the receiver. Any electrically conductive wire with an insulative sheath will do. You could go to Radio Shack and get a wire with the same gauge if you'd like.

If your grounding wire is like mine, it just ends in bare wire. You could get fancy and put connectors on, but I just twist the bare wires together (from the original grounding wire and the extension wire). I just wrap them in tape - electrical tape is best - but you could also use a wire nut.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have an older Luxman turntable, and the RCA cables are hardwired into the back of the turntable. Where I have the phono in my new setup is farther away, and the cables don't reach my receiver. I know I can get a RCA female-to-male interconnect to extend the length, but what do I do about the ground wire, how do I extend it to connect to the receiver?

I hope I explained the problem clearly, thanks.

Don't extend the cables much. The capacitance of phono cables is critical. The added capacitance of longer cables, rapidly reduces the HF from cartridges as you extend the length.

 

[bryanalban]

Don't extend the cables much. The capacitance of phono cables is critical. The added capacitance of longer cables, rapidly reduces the HF from cartridges as you extend the length.

How far could I extend it without causing problems?

I have a Luxman direct-drive turntable, if that matters.

 

[TLS Guy]

How far could I extend it without causing problems?

I have a Luxman direct-drive turntable, if that matters.

It is the cartridge that matters. I would not increase the length more than 25%.

Cartridges have an output of 1.5 to 5 mv. Line level is 2 volts. Phono cartridges are not designed to push signal through long cables.

If you need a long run, put a phono preamp near the turntable, and connect the preamp to a line level input.

 

[markw]

If you do avail yourself of the external phono preamp option, remember that you will need to feed it's output into a line-level (aux) input on the amp/receiver, not a phono input.