Phono cable for 100?


Is there any way to get a decent step-up phono cable from the ones the manufacturers include with the tone arm without spending an arm and a leg? I have an 22 year old Micro Seiki arm with the original phono cable. Any suggestions?
bjrichardson


I replaced the stock cable on my Linn Ittok with one made from the Sakura Systems OTA cable kit (see www.sakurasystems.com and the discussion group under this forum).

A 3' run with a Van den Hul 90 degree din plug cost me slightly less than $80. You'll have to find someone who has
some of this cable to spare - unless you want to buy the complete kit of 50 meters and rewire your entire system.
It's well worth doing.

Compared to the stock Linn cable there's much more micro-detail, air around instruments and slam. I tried the original cable last week and was shocked at the difference.

Happy spinning,

Mark
There is a great one by LAT international for under $200.00. They let you try it for 45 days at no charge.
If your arm has a standard DIN plug I would rent a range of cables from The Cable Company (1-800-fat-wyre). They carry a whole range of phono cables and by trying them you can deterine whether they are an improvement or not before you lay out the cash.(Because all rental charges go toward purchase you have nothing to lose...) I also agree with albertporter - youare dealing with such a small signal, seemingly minor changes can make a big difference.
Phono cable for 100 ??? What, is Alex Trebek hosting Audiogon now ??? Sean

PS... Sorry, but i couldn't resist : )
The Micro Seiki is probably a DIN connector at the tonearm with RCA type at the electronics. Try buying a "stock" modern cable, perhaps from someone who had upgraded to a ultra high end aftermarket cord.

One of todays modern tonearm cables from a high end manufacturer will be light years ahead of your 22 year old original, even if yours were brand new.

Add to that, your RCA jacks and internal copper wiring are probably suffering the effects of oxidation. This could be a nice upgrade for VERY little money, perhaps much less than $100.00.

If you succeed with this and the results encourage you, go for a new set of head shell wires. This is another place where new copper could make a big difference.