Phono cables - the most sensitive and critical cable in your system

[XV-1]

over the past 6 weeks I have tried out 5 different phono cables in my system. All din to rca

Everyone of them has sounded quite different and changed the balance of the system.

It would be good to hear about others phono cable journey's.

Vyda silver phono - wonderful cable but a bit forward in the " action" lower treble which did not synergise in my system
Nordost Valhalla V1 - my reference - better balanced than the Vyda but still on the lean side
Nordost Tyr V1 phono - amazing cable as has Nordost speed but a lot warmer top end - tonally cloest to Valhalla V2+.
Furutech AG-12 phono - overachieving cable at a very cheap price - just a bit rough around the edges

and now just received Nordost Valhalla V2 +. I need to listen to this more, but it seems like the best quality red wine - finely balanced top to bottom and slightly laid back on top. completely different in the top end vs V1, its like its a different cable. Bass is more full vs V1 but still has the speed that Nordost is famous for. All my listening buddies would luv this cable as they say my system can be on the lean side. More listening time will dictate whether I prefer this view of the musical world.

Interestingly I tried the Thales Statement tonearm in the past 4 weeks. Its a very different sound vs the Simplicity II and frankly I preferred the speed and lightness of the Simplicity, however the added bass impact of the Statement was hard to forget. The Valhalla V2+ has got me that Statement bass depth and left the rest of the audio spectrum they way I prefer. Not bad for one 5th the cost.

It proves to me that once you reach a certain level in your system, everything and anything makes quite a different and more expensive is not always better.

 

[Nemal1]

Unfortunately my triplanar se is hard wired terminating in xlr cables but does mean a continuous run from cartridge lead to phone stage.
Good luck with your selection

 

[Kingrex]

I kick myself a little for not getting the wires in my tone arm updated to premium when I bought it.

All the cables you tried seem to be more a change. Not good, better, best. I bought a cable years back from a guy in England.
He hand winds cable with a litz cover on each strand. It was about $300. I have no idea if it's a good cable or not.

 

[Alrainbow]

Your post points to good facts. one item to add is the interaction of various carts on any given phono preamp. some of what you hear as a given variance can be a known for certain reasons.
a given cart has certain specs that have effects on certain cables and there specs. so in some ways what you note may vary in others systems.
cables if well
made can be used to tube tailor the sound we like.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

there are multiple schools of thought on phono cables. we can read about SME 3012r owners who seem to prefer certain vintage very modestly priced examples. no right or wrong to it. me; i'm more from the school of thought that with a .2mv-.5mv signal from a moving coil cartridge, a phono cable is an 'opportunity' to optimize information. a phono cable is an almost equal partner with the phono cartridge, to feed the tiny signal to the phono stage and there get boosted by 40db-80db. garbage in <-> garbage out. that cable will be very audible. more than any other piece of wire in your system it will limit or open up what happens. maybe some cartridges need to be tamed......maybe some others can benefit fully from being unleashed.

so possibly 'heroic' efforts are called for. like this one.....

LFD Cables (phono and I.C.) from the UK, cables as components

for the last 10 years of my high end audiophile time, i've mostly steered clear of the very top price level of signal cables. i did own some very 'uber' priced Tara Labs interconnects for a couple years chasing digital goodness with my Trinity dac and Golden Gate. impressive with their grounding...

www.whatsbestforum.com

 

[Kingrex]

Owe wow. So, does the phono stage also influence what cable may work best?

Is there any benefit to a cable that goes from the cartridge tags to the back of the preamp unbroken. Or is that not possible. I think the cables in my arm are tiney, and the Cable from the arm to phono may be much larger.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Owe wow. So, does the phono stage also influence what cable may work best?

Is there any benefit to a cable that goes from the cartridge tags to the back of the preamp unbroken. Or is that not possible. I think the cables in my arm are tiney, and the Cable from the arm to phono may be much larger.

the subject matter is over my head....and i cannot explain how the cable variables (capacitance and shielding) effect the whole chain. an SUT also can be a factor in what cable works best.

i've never approached this phono cable question from the perspective that certain cables work better with certain phono's. but maybe it does work that way?

 

[Tango]

over the past 6 weeks I have tried out 5 different phono cables in my system. All din to rca

Everyone of them has sounded quite different and changed the balance of the system.

It would be good to hear about others phono cable journey's.

Vyda silver phono - wonderful cable but a bit forward in the " action" lower treble which did not synergise in my system
Nordost Valhalla V1 - my reference - better balanced than the Vyda but still on the lean side
Nordost Tyr V1 phono - amazing cable as has Nordost speed but a lot warmer top end - tonally cloest to Valhalla V2+.
Furutech AG-12 phono - overachieving cable at a very cheap price - just a bit rough around the edges

and now just received Nordost Valhalla V2 +. I need to listen to this more, but it seems like the best quality red wine - finely balanced top to bottom and slightly laid back on top. completely different in the top end vs V1, its like its a different cable. Bass is more full vs V1 but still has the speed that Nordost is famous for. All my listening buddies would luv this cable as they say my system can be on the lean side. More listening time will dictate whether I prefer this view of the musical world.

Interestingly I tried the Thales Statement tonearm in the past 4 weeks. Its a very different sound vs the Simplicity II and frankly I preferred the speed and lightness of the Simplicity, however the added bass impact of the Statement was hard to forget. The Valhalla V2+ has got me that Statement bass depth and left the rest of the audio spectrum they way I prefer. Not bad for one 5th the cost.

It proves to me that once you reach a certain level in your system, everything and anything makes quite a different and more expensive is not always better.

Shane. You are one of the few guys here I take comment on gear as sincere and frank. I agree more expensive is not always better and more expensive seem to have some attention grabbing first impression. Most cheap cables sound cheap. But some cheaper cable sound excellent regardless comparing with any high price cable. The problem is trying to find good phono cables consume so much time before reaching any conclusion. The Denon cable I found great had dull first impression. It continued to be dull for the first seven days. Realistically most people who buy cable for less than $100 would threw it out after 3-4 days because it seems to present the sonic impression consistent to its price. If you find one you might want to try. Your impression on some cables you listed is consistent to mine. But I don't think the phono cable is most critical cable in the chain. In a transparent system, any cable down the chain is as important.

 

[hogen]

there are multiple schools of thought on phono cables. we can read about SME 3012r owners who seem to prefer certain vintage very modestly priced examples. no right or wrong to it. me; i'm more from the school of thought that with a .2mv-.5mv signal from a moving coil cartridge, a phono cable is an 'opportunity' to optimize information. a phono cable is an almost equal partner with the phono cartridge, to feed the tiny signal to the phono stage and there get boosted by 40db-80db. garbage in <-> garbage out. that cable will be very audible. more than any other piece of wire in your system it will limit or open up what happens. maybe some cartridges need to be tamed......maybe some others can benefit fully from being unleashed.

so possibly 'heroic' efforts are called for. like this one.....

LFD Cables (phono and I.C.) from the UK, cables as components

for the last 10 years of my high end audiophile time, i've mostly steered clear of the very top price level of signal cables. i did own some very 'uber' priced Tara Labs interconnects for a couple years chasing digital goodness with my Trinity dac and Golden Gate. impressive with their grounding...

www.whatsbestforum.com

I very much agree on this!

 

[Alrainbow]

i buy phono cables based on there specs . i feel a low to ultra low cap spec can be heard . phono cables need to be as short as possible i feel . exp to cheap can matter greatly as i doubt we can find a cheap phono cable made to have specs i like . the wire in the arm matters as well , but how its installed also matters . some use external cables , i have tried some they have a great affect but can also add noise . an SUT in pure theory is best , but it must meet the needs of the cart in close detail if not its way off in sound . to use an SUT that has multi taps can allow some adjusting and allowance of more then one cart . regarding the effect to phono pre i feel yes but less than the cart . if we use an SUT also matters . now people like M.L have profound amount of experience to help . me while i have some i lean towards specs and sound . all in a phono cart to phono pre is very complicated not just cost and specs but more how it should sound . so people like Mike have the last word to me and some .

 

[tima]

over the past 6 weeks I have tried out 5 different phono cables in my system. All din to rca

Thanks Shane, nice bit of work there, nice report.

 

[microstrip]

(...) Everyone of them has sounded quite different and changed the balance of the system.
It would be good to hear about others phono cable journey's. (...)

There are very good reasons for this large difference - cartridges are very sensitive to capacitive load and cable capacitance can vary a lot between cables - 70 pF for the SME 3012R , 180 pF for a Fideliy Research cable , 57 pF for the Kimber KS 1236.

Sometimes it is hard to know if we are listening to the effect of the different capacitance or the cable "magic".

 

[XV-1]

Shane. You are one of the few guys here I take comment on gear as sincere and frank. I agree more expensive is not always better and more expensive seem to have some attention grabbing first impression. Most cheap cables sound cheap. But some cheaper cable sound excellent regardless comparing with any high price cable. The problem is trying to find good phono cables consume so much time before reaching any conclusion. The Denon cable I found great had dull first impression. It continued to be dull for the first seven days. Realistically most people who buy cable for less than $100 would threw it out after 3-4 days because it seems to present the sonic impression consistent to its price. If you find one you might want to try. Your impression on some cables you listed is consistent to mine. But I don't think the phono cable is most critical cable in the chain. In a transparent system, any cable down the chain is as important.

Tang. I copied the thread heading from the Nordost Valhalla V2+ manual i put it there to attract some attention.

Agree, in a good system any cable change is pretty apparent.

 

[bazelio]

over the past 6 weeks I have tried out 5 different phono cables in my system. All din to rca

Everyone of them has sounded quite different and changed the balance of the system.

It would be good to hear about others phono cable journey's.

Vyda silver phono - wonderful cable but a bit forward in the " action" lower treble which did not synergise in my system
Nordost Valhalla V1 - my reference - better balanced than the Vyda but still on the lean side
Nordost Tyr V1 phono - amazing cable as has Nordost speed but a lot warmer top end - tonally cloest to Valhalla V2+.
Furutech AG-12 phono - overachieving cable at a very cheap price - just a bit rough around the edges

and now just received Nordost Valhalla V2 +. I need to listen to this more, but it seems like the best quality red wine - finely balanced top to bottom and slightly laid back on top. completely different in the top end vs V1, its like its a different cable. Bass is more full vs V1 but still has the speed that Nordost is famous for. All my listening buddies would luv this cable as they say my system can be on the lean side. More listening time will dictate whether I prefer this view of the musical world.

Interestingly I tried the Thales Statement tonearm in the past 4 weeks. Its a very different sound vs the Simplicity II and frankly I preferred the speed and lightness of the Simplicity, however the added bass impact of the Statement was hard to forget. The Valhalla V2+ has got me that Statement bass depth and left the rest of the audio spectrum they way I prefer. Not bad for one 5th the cost.

It proves to me that once you reach a certain level in your system, everything and anything makes quite a different and more expensive is not always better.

Nice write up. Agree fully on the Furutech AG-12 being very good bang for the buck. The same being true for the line level interconnects speaker cables as well, actually. Until recently, I was still using DIY Furutech speakers cables in a secondary system. I was curious what you meant in your description of the Vyda in terms of the "action" lower treble?

This V2+ cable sounds like a winner though. I suppose there was a V2 prior to the V2+ ?

 

[XV-1]

Nice write up. Agree fully on the Furutech AG-12 being very good bang for the buck. The same being true for the line level interconnects speaker cables as well, actually. Until recently, I was still using DIY Furutech speakers cables in a secondary system. I was curious what you meant in your description of the Vyda in terms of the "action" lower treble?

This V2+ cable sounds like a winner though. I suppose there was a V2 prior to the V2+ ?

The Vyda in my system was forward with vocals but more importantly lead guitars etc which got fatiguing and unnatural after being initially exciting. It was like it was spotlighting that musical area like the SPU sort of does. In some other systems I could see it being magical.


I guess there must have been a V2 b4 V2+.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

need a 3rd high quality phono cable for my incoming Primary Control FCL arm (likely Etsuro Gold cart....maybe the DaVa), and not sure i can wait 9 months (if i'm lucky) for another LFD to be built.

just pondering a Nordost Odin 2+ phono cable. has anyone done any compares with Odin, Odin 2 or Odin 2+ and other phono cables. do these deliver?......or......? i know a few here have these.

 

[jfrech]

I did this a few years ago. And agree with your assessment, that they are important, almost to the point of being in the same category as cartridge, arm, table and phono stage. It's a key component.

I tried Cardas (believe it was golden cross at the time), Purist Venestas, Transparent Ref XL. These cables were a good better best. I've since gone all Transparent and upgraded a few years ago to Opus and now I have Magnum Opus G6. The tuning is important on Transparent, I have one arm, one cartridge so I can have it calibrated precisely.

 

[XV-1]

need a 3rd high quality phono cable for my incoming Primary Control FCL arm (likely Etsuro Gold cart....maybe the DaVa), and not sure i can wait 9 months (if i'm lucky) for another LFD to be built.

just pondering a Nordost Odin 2+ phono cable. has anyone done any compares with Odin, Odin 2 or Odin 2+ and other phono cables. do these deliver?......or......? i know a few here have these.

Good question Mike.

You certainly don't see Odin phono cables on the used market very much, if ever.

 

[Bobvin]

need a 3rd high quality phono cable for my incoming Primary Control FCL arm (likely Etsuro Gold cart....maybe the DaVa), and not sure i can wait 9 months (if i'm lucky) for another LFD to be built.

just pondering a Nordost Odin 2+ phono cable. has anyone done any compares with Odin, Odin 2 or Odin 2+ and other phono cables. do these deliver?......or......? i know a few here have these.

Hey Mike, I’ve read about these Stage 3 Concepts cables made here in Portland area. I’ve never heard them, but find the design approach with varying shapes and dimensions of wires and shielding to be a bit similar to the LFD designs Mic offers. Are you familiar — seems like just the sort of exotic design you’d have explored?

Anyone else?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Hey Mike, I’ve read about these Stage 3 Concepts cables made here in Portland area. I’ve never heard them, but find the design approach with varying shapes and dimensions of wires and shielding to be a bit similar to the LFD designs Mic offers. Are you familiar — seems like just the sort of exotic design you’d have explored?

Anyone else?

Bob, you really need to pay more attention......i recently added Stage 3 XLR interconnects for my Wadax combo. but a great phono cable is a specific beast since it's dealing with such a tiny signal. a Stage 3 phono might be great......i have no idea.

Wadax Reference Dac and Server arrive

One of the things I like most in my system is Stealth Audio cables. If you get a chance try a Sakra V17 LE interconnect. It gets right out of the way. hi Aangen, thanks for the recommendation. however, a few post's back i did already demo and purchase a 1.5m set of Phase III XLR Gorgon XLR's...

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