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Phono cables

I'm interested in trying some different phono cables but not sure what. I made a big change to my system recently and am now getting phono hum with many cables I have here except for Aural Thrills. Same turntable/ cartridge, but now hooked into a Luxman 590 axII integrated with built in phono stage. I had all separates before including a phono amp. I've tried several different Discovery cables, Cardas Golden Reference, a VPI phono cable, and some inexpensive Monster Cables. All produced hum. I might add, the hum came on only when the needle was placed on the record. Does anyone know what the Aural Thrills has or doesn't have in its makeup that cancels the hum? Any other product that is made similarly? It's not that I am unhappy with the sound from Aural Thrills, I just want to try some others for comparison. I don't want to just randomly buy cables and end up with hum again. I did already try several hum remedies that most are familiar with, i.e. cheater plugs, separate grounding wires to everything, moving components and wires around.

markpao
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,366 posts
 

I have a luxman integrated and tried running a regular interconnect with a separate ground wire I made.  It was almost 8' long which I'm not sure might be pushing it.  It was from the output of a technics SL1100 table.  I was getting the most insane hum that was radically changing when I was moving the cable around.  I moved the cable and tried my VPI Weisline phono cable which is 5' long and a dedicated phono cable.  I was totally quiet with the VPI cable.  I ordered an 8' Audio Envy phono cable which I have another one in another system that I had extensively compared to the VPI cable and I like it much better than the VPI.  I'll try and post back once I get the longer Audio envy cable and hopefully I get the good sound and no hum

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

As an observation:

  1. If the previous components never hummed, then I am not sure an integrated was a step up. Is it better some other ways?
  2. If the Aural Thrills are the only cables that do not hum, then why try even more cables?

Alternatively if there is some cabling or grounding issue that can be fixed then it would likely help across the board if you have other sources than just a TT.

grk
200 posts
 

Stick withe the Aural Thrills or try other cables. Many cable makers offer a least a 30-day trial. I personally like (use) WyWires and they offer cables at different price points. Contact Alex and discuss your situation, as he offers free consultations. Also, the 40% off sale is still in effect. 

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