Advice on Belden 9497 Speaker Cable!

I meant the lettering that Belden prints on the cable jacket itself. I don't know if Tuneful's label goes the same direction or not, or if their label is meant to indicate the cables direction.

@russk is correct that the 8402 is not the lowest capacitance cable out there, and might adversely affect a MM cartridges loading, but there are many cables out there that have much higher capacitance than the 8402. I measured the capacitance of my 4 foot pair of 8402's that are terminated with Switchcraft 3502's and came up with 240 pF total.

 

Does anyone know the correct capacitance of the Belden 8402? The website states either 30pf per foot or 55pf per foot, but I can't understand which one it is. Also, amateur question, but if I am totaling my capacitance for my Shure V15 V-MR cartridge, am I totaling just the tonearm interconnects and the capacitance of my phono preamp, or am I totaling everything: turntable interconnects, phono preamp capacitance, interconnects from phono preamp to amp, and my integrated amplifier?

 

Tonearm wires + interconnect + phono unit input capacitance.

If you're trying to figure out interconnect capacitance, you have to consider the capacitance of the RCA connectors also. Sometimes it's just easier to measure an assembled interconnect.

The 30pF measurement is from the positive & negative conductors. The 55pF measurement is from either conductor and the shield. Since the shield is connected to both ends, I would use the 55pF measurement.

If your 8402 is the 3 foot model, I would estimate it to be somewhere between 185-200 pF.

 

Thanks for the reply. That's what I thought. It sounds about right to my ears anyway. I think the Shure cartridge is best at around 250pf. When I just use the Rogue Audio Sphinx for the phono and not the MoFi phono preamp, it sounds like the highs are rolled off just a bit. It sounds a bit brighter using the MoFi phono preamp instead, but it's not harsh and I quite like it. I think the capacitance would be higher with the Sphinx, since the capacitance with the Sphinx is 150pf and the MoFi is 100pf.

 

Not to stir the pot, but Tuneful does have a half meter 8402 interconnect also that might work nicely between one's Turntable & Phono Unit.

 

Yeah I considered that, but it wouldn't work for the room that I have on my shelf. The meter fits better. Overall, it sounds nice to me and the highs are not too overly bright. Orginially, I was thinking I needed to total up all of the interconnects AND the capacitance input for my phono preamp and integrated amplifier, but it makes sense that the option to just plug my interconnects into my Sphinx would sound a bit like the highs are rolled off. The option of using the MoFi as the phono preamp sounds a bit brighter, but not that bad. Either option works for me.

 

I ordered a couple pairs of the three foot 8402's from "Tuneful", and a pair of their 1/2 meter 8402's.

Of the samples that I received, the printing on "Tuneful's" added label does indeed match the same direction of Belden's own on cable printing.

Using my admittedly very cheap digital multimeter, I measured 90pF for the 1/2 meter set, and 160pF for the three foot set. Please keep in mind that my meter is very inexpensive, and that it will give different results depending on the ambient temperature. These are to be considered "ball park" figures.

The cables are nicely finished.

I've compared the 8402's against a set of 16 gauge shielded Duelund's. In my system, the shielded Duelund's really shone on my turntable and phono units, and the 8402 sounded surprisingly nice in any position that I tried.

In the future, I would like to try the Duelund 20 gauge in a non shielded configuration. The non-shielded versions are said to have more "air" than the shielded.

 

FWIW I just got around to A/B ing the A23 and 9497 in my main system and definitely preferred the the A23. I was using The AP 45 of Art Pepper Meets (one of my primary reference recordings) and the alto sax was just a little too strident and the upright bass just a little too undefined on the Belden. The top end did sound a little more airy w/ the Belden . Overall I preferred the meatier and more defined A23. I'm using gold plated banana plugs on the Belden - so maybe the connectors could be improved.

I like using this recording because (at least on "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" ) the alto is often "just" at the edge of stridency and at times you have to strain a little to hear all the bass lines.

It is still a great cable for the price.

 

Keep in mind anything you purchase gold plated will have a nickel layer between base metal and gold layer, so the nickel layer is built in, but it is usually a very thin layer, not adding too much resistance. Necessary evil.

 

This is a really nice silver-plated copper banana that I've found pretty easy to work with. They are a bit fragile.

https://www.vampirewire.com/product-page/xhadow-banana

 

I really like the 8402 Interconnect mentioned here on my Dac to vintage reciever. I tried them thanks to comments here by @russk and others. I did not get the Tuneful version as it's 100 bucks now with shipping/tax, but there is another seller in ebay in MN for about 60 shipped/tax. He has a few different options for connectors and you can contact them for your shield termination preference, mine are at both ends and work and sound fine. I run them in direction of lettering.

It does a take some time to break and the bass may just lack a bit of definition. I found them to be more cohesive and musical overall than another more expensive option I was lent.

I think I will be trying the 9497 speaker cables next, those are also up to 1.50/ft btw.