Phono cables/philosphy ?

From a technical standpoint, I don't think that the gauge of the conductors will make any difference in itself.

The most important factor is probably the capacitance of the particular cable. If you are using a low output moving coil cartridge, in general the lower the capacitance the better. See the post by Lyra cartridge designer JCarr dated 8-14-10 in this thread. At 20 pf/ft, the capacitance of your Baldur cables is reasonably low. Keep in mind that the total capacitance of the cable is proportional to length.

If you are using a moving magnet cartridge, then the cable capacitance + the input capacitance of the phono stage + the capacitance of the wiring in the turntable and tonearm should fall within the range that is hopefully specified by the cartridge manufacturer.

Shield quality is also important for low level phono signals, of course. The single 97% braided shield of the Baldur is reasonably good, but not as good as a configuration such as a double-shield that provides 100% coverage. The difference may not be significant, though, especially given the noise rejection provided by the balanced connection.

Beyond those factors, it becomes a matter of experimentation to see what sounds best in your particular setup, IMO.

Regards,
-- Al

I found a paper online awhile back that puts all this into easily understood terms. The good part is that it explains series inductance and skin effect in a way that anyone can follow. It is somewhat of a primer to understanding how wire works.

Here's the link. Bear in mind that it is a .pdf download, although a small one.

www.procosound.com/ download/ whitepapers/ Understanding%20Speaker%20Cables.pdf

Linked again for ease of access...

http://www.procosound.com/ download/ whitepapers/ Understanding%20Speaker%20Cables.pdf

Unfortunately, the link doesn't go directly to the download because the owner's site is somewhat screwy. You will need to go to the bottom of their download page to get it. I am not at all affiliated with that company, but I thought the white paper was interesting.

Sorry for making so many posts to get a simple point across.

Can you better explain the connections you have. When you say xlr to xlr can you be more clear? Do you mean that the wires that plug into the cart on one end terminate with an xlr on the other end? There are different ways to do this. On my TT, the tonearm cables terminate to a box and I just use regular interconnects from that point on. I'm just having a hard time visualizing how the connections in your system are set up.

Thank-you for all the responses. I will check the download.
My cartridge routes to a box with xlr connections (vpi)
I will see if I can get a shorter length in my price range.
Nordost told me that the ideal phono length for their cables is a bit over 1 meter. Seems a little self-serving for a cable manufacturer.... They said it lets their design fuction.
Thanks again.

I second Al's comment re capacitance. I doubt if resistance or inductance will have any impact. The total length of the interconnect (x it's capacitance/ft) + the preamp input capacitance + the capacitance of the tonearm cables should match the total allowed (or desired) capacitance for the cartridge (if its MM). For moving coils, this is less critical.

Sm2727 FWIW Brooks Berdan recommended cables longer than 1 meter, 1.5 meters actually for best results. Not everyone is out to get you on cables especially a company as large as Nordost, can you imagine them caring about 1/2 meter of cable, I think their passion for audio would suggest no!!!

The capacitance of a balanced connection is usually less than that of a single-ended connection of the same length.

The advantage of going balanced is that the cable, if set up correctly, will have no audible artifact. This seems to work out quite well on phono cartridges.