Does Everyone Use 2 Phono Cables with SUT


I just learned a rather expensive lesson from my audio dealer. I always thought I only needed a phono cable from my turntable to my SUT. By adding another phono cable (not interconnect) from the SUT to the phono preamp, I got a nice improvement in “efficiency.” Everything just flows better.

 

I guess everyone uses 2 phono cables? 

 

 

128x128labpro

Dinov, there really IS no difference except I guess in the minds of some or where a phono cable could be defined as a cable that terminates at one pair of ends by a usually female DIN plug or the like.

There is actually one substantial difference between the cable that feeds the input of a SUT and the one that comes from the output of a SUT.  The difference is the impedance level at which they operate which dictates the situational needs.

Lets assume a 10Ω cartridge and a 1:20 SUT.  The cable from the cartridge will be operating with a 10Ω source impedance which is so low that length and cable  capacitance is typically not much of an issue.  Granted the signal levels are also quite low so noise pickup can be a concern so this wire is always typically shielded. Since it is a low impedance line, the penalty of the shield is minimal.  On the other side of the SUT the cable sees 4000Ω and suddenly capacitance starts to take its toll.  Due to the higher impedance shielding is a must for quiet operation but the capacitance that comes along with the shielding becomes the "gotcha".  This is the main reason it is wise to keep this cable as short as possible.  This is particularly important when you get into the higher impedance cartridges through high ratio SUT's 

dave

 

 

This is particularly important when you get into the higher impedance cartridges through high ratio SUT’s

Dave @intactaudio, thanks for this explanation. So my takeaway is that the higher capacitance of standard interconnects makes them problematic for use between a SUT and phono stage, especially if they’re not short and especially if you’re using a higher impedance cart and high ratio SUT. That would explain why I had a problem using the Denon 103 and EMT JSD 6 with an A23 T2 SUT with standard ICs of various brands and why I’ve gotten such a big change from switching to a phono cable that’s advertised for its low capacitance. Nice to have such a clear narrative on this!

 

@labpro As you can see cable capacitance is the name of the game when it comes to phono cartridges and SUTs. Its important to keep it down as much as possible. The transformer transforms everything- not just the output voltage of the cartridge.

This issue is so important that it may well outweigh the cable brand or the like...

Thank you all for the feedback and advice. 
 

I learned an expensive lesson by using a regular interconnect with my SUT.

I think @atmasphere is correct. “Brand” probably is not as important as the cables capacitance. 
 

I’ll bet there are some decent phono cables, with very low capacitance, that can be purchased at a reasonable price. I believe someone mentioned Bobs Devices.