Recommend me a turntable interconnect

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by jfine, May 20, 2015.

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  1. jfine

    jfine Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Been recently dialing in a terminator linear tonearm and swapping cables around, having some fun, I don't own high $$$ cables...yet.

    The best (sounding) cable to me right now is a blue jeans LC1. I also have a slightly cheaper Mogami 2964. Sadly the other cables I have are not worth mentioning. :( I was never really into interconnect swapping, (lazy mostly) but I can't ignore the differences they can make, especially a turntable connection, but let's not digress that into this thread.

    The LC1 blue jeans sounds much better in most all respects, clear vocals, multi-vocals less muddy, bigger bass, growling mids, and treble that doesn't chase you out of the room. However, it has an all around too forward trait to it, kind of borders on fatigue in my setup. The Mogami simply does not have the qualities of the LC1, but it is smoother (probably less dynamic) and not *at all* forward like the blue jeans, it does have a bit of brightness I dont like though.

    So the problem is, I dont mind spending a few 100 on a nice set of interconnects, but there are so many to choose from, so I thought I'd ask what you guys think.

    I'm thinking maybe an Audioquest Yukon, (I've heard they are a bit lean though), which is right below the Audioquest DBS cables. The DBS line are a bit more than I would want to spend. Or maybe a PH2/PH3 Morrow. Heck there's lots to choose from.

    Last thing I would want is ending up with a cable that's too bright, or too lean for sure. I really want to like the LC1 (I did put 100+ hours on it) but it needs to mellow out like the Mogami, thoughts?
     
  2. TeflonScoundrel

    TeflonScoundrel Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I can't say I've listened to them myself, but Cardas cables have the reputation of sounding smooth and warm, so it would probably be worth checking out the model that fits your budget if you have a dealer close enough.
     
    ggergm, Gary and Long Live Analog like this.
  3. DigMyGroove

    DigMyGroove Forum Resident

  4. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC
    The VPI cables are surprisingly good, and not to expensive.

    I also really like the Kimber TAK CU cables.
     
    ggergm and Long Live Analog like this.
  5. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    Atlas cables are excellent
     
  6. Upinsmoke

    Upinsmoke Well-Known Member

    Location:
    SE PA
    I've tried a few different cables from Blue Jeans to the VPI cable referred to here and a few others I auditioned and heard no real benefit added (not to mention they were much pricier than the VPI cable). Not sure who makes it for them but I still keep going back to the VPI cable I bought when I first picked up the table.
     
    Tremaindous and GoldprintAudio like this.
  7. Rolltide

    Rolltide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallejo, CA
    I actually swapped out Blue Jeans cable for the VPI cable this week and think I prefer it. Important to this question is what kind of cartridge you have and its capacitance needs. The Audioquest cables have way too high capacitance for a sensitive MM.
     
  8. jfine

    jfine Forum Resident Thread Starter

    The cart is a grado MI, not much affected (to me) by capacitance (glad I got off the loading train).

    DH Labs Air Matrix anyone?
     
  9. thegage

    thegage Forum Currency Nerd

    Grover. Very good quality and sound for the price, and endorsed by your website host.

    John K.
     
    Gary and Dave like this.
  10. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    Tough to get lower capacitance or better shielded than the LC1. I've used 'em and really liked 'em in some circumstances, not as much in others (oddly I've heard 'em sometimes sound bright, sometimes sound warm), but for a phono cable where there's a real premium on lowest capacitance and best shielding it's an excellent choice. If it's bright vs. the Mogami which at circa 18 pF/ft capacitance is still quite low cap, but still nearly 60% higher cap than the LC1, my guess -- and it's just a guess since I don't know the lengths you're using or the cart -- the differences are down to a shift in the resonant frequency of the cart/cable/preamp circuit as a result of the differing capacitance loading.
     
    Michael Ries likes this.
  11. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Wireworld Oasis 7—low-mass RCA, silver coated copper, very good insulation, shield connected at both ends. This one is not bright, but detailed, balanced and never gives any sibilant harshness. Pretty cheap, as well.
     
    ggergm likes this.
  12. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
  13. Drew769

    Drew769 Buyer of s*** I never knew I lacked

    Location:
    NJ
    I went with an Ortofon. They make one that retails all over for around $320, but direct from Ortofons site it is around $240. It is the 6NX-TSW-1010R. It is well shielded but has an open sound.
     
  14. ssmith3046

    ssmith3046 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona desert
    I use Morrow PH4 cables on one and PH6 on one. Love them.
     
    cmndrums and T'mershi Duween like this.
  15. Turntable

    Turntable Senior Member

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Furutech AG-12 is unbeatable at the price
     
  16. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    Question: where did you buy the VPI cable? Do they sell these direct? I did a Google and all I could find are forums and people talking about it :)
     
  17. GoldprintAudio

    GoldprintAudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington, NC

    Any VPI dealer will be able to get you one.
     
    macster and Long Live Analog like this.
  18. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    At the risk of getting beaten down, does anyone know the average capacitance of Monster cables?:hide: They don't publish the specs....

    Reason I ask is, I have my TT connected via a basic Monster cable. I swapped it out for the Blue Jeans LC1 and I swear it dulled the sound considerably. So back in the Monster went.
     
    ggergm likes this.
  19. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Which Monster?
     
  20. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm

    The only thing You can do that is reasonably reliable is to measure the capacitance.
     
  21. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    For me the only thing that matters with ICs for phono is the capacitance. Different cap values can change the balance in sound considerably.
     
  22. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    Monster Standard 100 or 101 (I am not home now.) It's grey :)
     
  23. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I've wanted to try this for a while. I got an Oasis 6 along the way and it's nothing special.
    Monster gets a lot of deserved raps here but they have made some great cables over the years. For 20 years, a go-to cable for me is their Reference2. Designed by Bruce Brisson before he started MIT Cables, it is lush and warm, maybe a bit too much, but then proper cabling is like cooking. You have to taste the dish as you are making it, adjusting your spices along the way. Put a Monster Reference2 in a system with a bright phono cartridge and you'll have a winner.

    Absolutely. I got one of theirs with my Classic2 and I'm surprised how often it has found its way back into my system. In fact, I'm about ready to re-wire my 30 year old B&O tangential arm platter with it to both solve a problem and make the turntable sound better.

    Another good, not too expensive at $450 cable right now is the Black Cat Lectraline xe. Unfortunately, it's out of production temporarily as the company's owner is moving, but he says he'll be back up in a month or so.

    Finally, I find myself often using a $209 Decware Silver Reference cable. It's a tad bright but, boy, what a soundstage! There is a lot happening correctly with this cable. Curiously, both it and the Lectraline are not directional, where every other good cable I own is.
     
  24. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    I don't think all the Monsters are all the same capacitance, but I'm pretty sure none are as low as 12 pF/ft, which I think is the spec on the LC1.

    The weird thing about the LC1 is I've heard it seem to sound less bright than other cables in some uses and more bright than the same cables in other uses, which I struggle to understand the reason for. Maybe, because it's so well sheilded it really knocks down EMI noise, which I think sometimes is something we hear as dulling the sound, when really it's just kind of removing a glossy haze of low level noise. I dunno, just guessing.

    I've played around a bunch with DIY cable materials and geometries using cable mostly made, like the LC1 is, by Belden -- coax, twinax, pseudo-litz, sheilded, unsheilded, double shielded, twinax with shield floating at one end, different dielectrics from teflon to PE, semiconductive PVC triboelectric sheilding, solid core wire, stranded core wires, blah, blah, blah. For the most part I find the differences between cables in most hifi contexts -- where we're using relatively sort lengths cable with low output impedance devices and high input impedance devices, to be pretty minor. But these LC1's are weird cables that I'm struggling to really get a handle on.

    In my set up I get the most open, dynamic sound with the best apparent performance at the frequency extremes out of sheilded teflon dielectric twinax with the shield floating at one end, but it's stiff cable that's a b**ch to work with and terminate and it's can even damage RCA sockets it's so heavy and stiff. Conductor to conductor capacitance on that is almost as low as the conductor to shield capacitance of the LC1. But it's defninitely not as low noise as the LC1 -- great EMI noise rejection to me is the LC1's chief characteristic. The LC1 which is a small gauge, solid core coax, with foamed PE dielectric is well terminated (though I'd love a capacitance rating on those plugs), flexible, and cheap. It's not the best sounding cable I've ever used, but it is just about the quietest. I wind up using it in installations where good shielding is at a premium or for long runs where really low capacitance and flexibility are big benefits. But I've heard a lot of people think it sounds dull, and even I have had situations where I thought it sounded dull and undynamic (though I'm still not entirely sure I wasn't just hearing the result of taking false excitement producting noise out of the system).
     
    johnny q likes this.
  25. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Oasis 7 might strike you the same way. I like it because of the price and because it seems to do nothing wrong, which might sound boring if you are trying to get your system to sing a little. The super low-mass connectors seal the deal for me. I have very minimal crossovers and fast lively drivers, so I tend to go for just-the-facts cables.

    Totally agree on the Monster Reference2. I bought some of those ICs a long time ago, and I use them exactly like you say, to tame a bright component. I would not put those chunky connectors in a phono signal path though.

    Just for fun:

    Monster Reference 2 @ 1 meter = 206 pF
    Monster Standard Interlink 100 (Grey) @ 1 meter = 93 pF
    Wireworld Oasis 7 @ 1 meter = 350 pF

    So, as stated above, different values are going to give different results depending on the cart.
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2015
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