How to determine capacitance with the info I have

Al, thanks for the info, that is what I was looking for. It also seems to be an extremely high capacitance cable for use with a MM cartridge ?

Hi Wayne,

Yes that does seem somewhat high, and the phono stage or preamp input will add a little bit more, whether it does not have adjustable input capacitance, or does have it and the adjustment is set to its minimum position.

But in your post in the current thread that was started by T_bone you indicated that your Ortofon wants to see 400pf, so you should be fine with that cartridge (and many others). And capacitance generally isn't all that critical anyway. The effects of a mismatch would be in the upper treble, as discussed in that thread.

It's also certainly possible that I'm guessing wrong as to how the cable is designed. But given the two numbers that were specified, 37pf/ft and 15pf/ft, I can't readily envision a configuration that would result in a capacitance substantially lower than what I calculated.

Obtaining a meter, though, as suggested by the others, would certainly be the best way of obtaining an accurate answer.

Best regards,
-- Al

Thanks Al, That Ortofon and many in the same series are looking for 400pf. The cartridge I am looking at now is rated at 100pf, big difference. That is what started this hunt for information. We are a distributor and sell meters. My digital does not have capacitance. I should be able to grab one with capacitance to check.

I also am finding after reading and emailing several cable people, that the lower conductor to conductor(thier words), is what most of the cables are spec'd at. So in the Jelco it would be 15pf/ft. Some of the others web sites and emails spec thiers at 15 to 20pf/ft. Nobody uses the sheild as part of thier spec, right or wrong it seems.