Best Phono Cable for SME Series V

The OEM SME vdH cable sucks. Sounds like you're listening through a blanket.

The PAD cables are great. I can only afford the Venustas, but John has gone right up through the line, so you can believe him when he says they get even better.

Cardas GR, Graham IC50, Hovland Music Groove 2 aren't bad. used to be the three best.

Sleeper of the year at $600 (you can audition one for free) is the Silver Breeze from Silver Audio http://www.silveraudio.com I would have bought one if I hadn't accidentally scored a Venustas @ CES for about the same price)

I haven't heard either Siltech's or Stereovox's phono cables, but at $4k+ and $2K+ respectively, they better be good ;-)

For headshell leads, there are so many good ones. Cardas, vdH Litz or SME Litz (same part), Audioquest, Sumiko, Nerve, Jelco, Ortofon . . . . . I'd go with the vdH/SME or the Cardas (after checking with Lyra ;--) but more important, if your tonearm is older than ~10yrs (not exactly sure, email the factory and check the serial number) you should do the the internal wiring upgrade, to the newer vdH MCS 150 silver Litz. I did mine and it made an audible difference. The factory will service the arm and install the new wire for around $350.

Hi Frank: I'm pretty sure your arm has the latest internal wiring. The Ikeda silver sounds lik a good wire -- but basically, all silver litz wire is the same. The important difference between various ones will be in the quality of the clips, and the strength of the solder connections; and in that regard, I think Cardas is probably the best.

Stereolab? StereoVOX does make TA cables, but I think production is down while they reorganize the company. You can't go wrong with Purist, that's for sure. I've never had a second thought about buying them, and would probably stay with PAD if I could afford to upgrade.

On the other hand, if you can't find some used Purist, or if money is tight for you right now, you should call Max at Silver Audio and see if he'll lend you some Silver Breeze to try. They seem to have developed a cult following, and what have you got to lose? I never drank the Nordost Kool-Aid, and haven't heard Stealth or Siltech.

Neil

I am wondering if you had a chance to compare the Silver Breeze tonearm cable with the Purist Audio directly?

No I haven't. My purchase of the Silver Breeze -- which was all but a done deal -- was inadvertantly sabotaged by Jim Aud (owner of PAD) offering me a Venustas phono cable at CES for the same price!! Until then, I'd not even heard of PAD, and figured I could easily sell the Venustas if I didn't like them ;--) BTW, the Venustas line uses copper/silver/gold alloy conductors.

So I'm hoping someone like yourself will take Max up on his trial offer and let the rest of us know what you think. I am having Max build a special mono Silver Breeze phono cable for a friend, but it hasn't been made yet.

Jtimothya -- what other phono cables did you use/consider before settling on the SB?

AQ4life: I used my SME-supplied vdH tonearm cable for years; skeptical like yourself that anything else would be much of an improvement. But as my system got more resolving, my phono playbck stayed the same even through a couple of cartridge changes. That's when I decided to investigate the TA cable. So when I came back from CES and installed my new Venustas, I was both furious and ecstatic at the same time: how could SME do this to me!?
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