… There isn't any huge problem with the sounds I'm getting from my CD player and turntable, I just thought it might be cheap to try out the lower capacitance LC-1 cables at some point. I probably won't end up buying them unless the other upgrades to my turntable aren't enough to convince me my system is at it's best for my budget. I think I'll try out the Blue Jean Cables 5T00PU cables (unterminated), they sound like the best deal. I'm not necessarily looking for a completely vintage sound, I just want the best sound possible from my Music hall 5.1 table and my tube CD player at a price point that I can deal with. But thanks for your advice.
Apparently, your turntable has RCA jacks to allow owners to use different interconnect cables between the turntable and their receiver, amp, or preamp. Did Music Hall supply interconnect cables with your turntable? If so, I'd guess they were no longer than about 4 feet. Use them.
The signal levels put out by moving magnet pick up cartridges are very low, roughly 5 mV. As a result, besides adequate shielding, the most important feature of turntable interconnects is that they be no longer than 4 feet. Longer cables can have enough capacitance to significantly filter out some of the higher audio frequencies. Choosing so called high performance cables will not improve the sound over the interconnects that Music Hall provided.
Older turntables always came with these cables hardwired in place. That was the best way to prevent owners from "fixing something that wasn't broken"
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If the location of your turntable requires using interconnects longer than what Music Hall provided, you have two choices. Rearrange your gear, or add a stand-alone phono preamp between the turntable and your amp. Use the Music Hall interconnect from the turntable to the phono preamp, and what ever interconnect you like from the phono preamp to your amp. The phono preamp boosts the output from about 5 mV (phono level) to at least 100 mV (line level). At line level, problems from longer interconnects go away. If you do this, you must use a different pair of input jacks on the back of your amp, not the phono inputs.
Your CD player puts out line level signals, so it is not subject to the same problem as a turntable. Different interconnects for line level signals, despite what you may have been led to believe, are unlikely to make an audible difference.
