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RE: Phono cable requirements?

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John Elison

In Reply to: RE: Phono cable requirements? posted by greg7 on January 27, 2013 at 18:01:55

If you are using a low-output moving coil cartridge, cable capacitance is not a concern. I use high-capacitance Monster Cable M-1000i with my low-output moving coil cartridges and they work just fine.

On the other hand, if you have a high-output MM cartridge, capacitance is definitely a concern. You should use low capacitance cables with MM cartridges.

Another place you should use low-capacitance cables is on the output of a step-up transformer. The reason is that step-up transformers reflect capacitance on their outputs back to the cartridge multiplied by the square of their turns-ratio. For example, if you have 1:20 step-up transformer with 400-pF capacitance on its secondary, the cartridge will see 0.16-�F capacitance. This is a little bit higher than you would like even for a low-output moving coil.

Best regards,
John Elison

Follow Ups:

High Output MC? - ydavid 06:05:42 01/29/13 (3)
Does a high output moving coil also need low cable capacitance?
- RE: High Output MC? - John Elison 07:45:55 01/29/13 (2)
  Yes, all high-output cartridges should have low-capacitance cables.
  
  What cables are you using? If they sound good, don't worry about them. High capacitance cables will not hurt any cartridge; they just might not sound as good. The high frequencies might be prematurely rolled off and there could be a resonance peak somewhere in the upper audible frequencies.
  
  One of the reasons that I think low-output moving coils sound better than high-output cartridges is because the electrical resonance is moved well out of the audible range. Many people think moving coils have lower effective tip mass, but that's not really true. Cartridges with the lowest effective tip mass have all been moving magnets. Check out the link for why I think low-output moving coils are superior to high-output cartridges.
  
  Best regards,
  John Elison
  - MC vs. MM Cartridges (Open in New Window)
  - RE: High Output MC? - ydavid 08:26:05 01/29/13 (1)
    Thank you for the informative response! I am using the Cardas microtwin IC with a Dynavector 10x5. It sounds good, much quieter and clearer than my Audioquest Diamondbacks, but I would prefer to have the optimal electrical connection to get the most out of the cartridge. The Turntable is the VPI Travleler and phono is the Musical Fidelity x lps v 3.
    - RE: High Output MC? - John Elison 11:59:57 01/29/13 (0)
      I don't know the capacitance of Cardas Microtwin, but it is double shielded so it probably has high capacitance. All you can do is try a low-capacitance cable and see if you like it better. Use the cable that sounds best to you.
      
      Good luck,
      John Elison
      
      PS. KAB sells a low capacitance cable called "Blues" with 65-pF per meter. It costs only $28 for a one-meter pair. Check it out at the following link. Click on "Phono Preamps" and scroll down to "ART Mogami Cables."
      KAB Acoustics (Open in New Window)

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