Recommendations for cable - tonearm to SUT - phono stage - amp

[Kember]

All,

I'd be grateful for thoughts/suggestions, please. I did wonder whether to put this in the DIY section but I also wanted the input of people who just listen to TTs!

I now have four or five TTs on the go with up to six carts in rotation. I also have a variety of SUTs and phono stages to factor in. My interconnects have been acquired/made ad hoc and there is no consistency there. It's all a bit messy. My OCD side is starting to twitch and I feel the need to tidy things up.

I think I'll need to source three or four TT leads (say 8m in total), three pairs of SUT to phono leads, treating two mono strands for the separate Yamamoto SUTs as a pair (so 1.5 m overall) and probably five pairs of phono stage to amp leads (four RCA sets and at least one pair of XLRs), say 8m for the RCA and 8m for the XLR. So 25m overall, rounded up to 30m to allow for errors.

Short of bankrupting myself buying this lot retail, can anyone suggest any suitable 30m worth of decent cable roll and terminations I can buy to allow me to make these up myself? (I'll also need to get various lengths of earth wire but I'm assuming that I can use any old stuff there as there is no SQ issue per se). I imagine that even silver wire and silver solder and a mass of high quality interconnects would not cost more than a pair of high quality interconnects (?!)

So a few questions:

What kinds of cable do people know work with very low voltage signals, please?
What connectors offer the best balance of vfm to ease of soldering?
I'm worried about earthing and would be grateful for advice on how to minimise hum.

On the positive side, we have two miserable months of weather and darkness coming up, I'm due to be stuck in a hotel between Reading and Newbury doing a deal for six weeks, so need something useful to do of an evening, rather than spending too much time in the bar with colleagues I've spent all day with.

BTW I'm quite able to use a soldering iron and multimeter without maiming myself or setting the house/hotel on fire. (But I'll have to find out if I can open the window at the hotel.)

Thanks for any thoughts and a Happy New Year to all, shortly.

Peter

[rabbit]

I can't say that I am a strong believer in exotic interconnects, but I have bought from this guy in the US and the cable is very high quality stuff. These 2 examples are ones that I have used, the shielded twisted pair makes a nice interconnect and the 32awg has gone into a couple of tonearms that I retored. Do look at his shop as he has all sorts. Service was excellent and wire turned up in 7 or so days. US postal costs have risen a lot in recent times so maybe his prices can be bettered more locally.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2313020278...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3807117341...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Watch out for those hotel smoke detectors, they can be rather sensitive!!

[Kember]

Martin,

Thanks for the tip (re the Yank, not the smoke detectors ). The site looks promising.

My wife is off to the US in January, so I might be able to get the stuff sent to her US office.

Peter

[CageyH]

A few people here use Yannis Tome cables - http://www.back-promo.co.uk/html/phono.html
Similar cable is available on eBay, as well as MS Audio connectors that seem to work well.

I may upgrade my arm to one later this year, as it is something I have wanted to do for a while.

[RobbieGong]

A few people here use Yannis Tome cables - http://www.back-promo.co.uk/html/phono.html
Similar cable is available on eBay, as well as MS Audio connectors that seem to work well.

I may upgrade my arm to one later this year, as it is something I have wanted to do for a while.

+1 for Yannis Tome cables. Superb quality, service and a top guy too

[supapeet]

I bought some interconnects from Yannis before Xmas, improved sound quality and he couldn't have been more helpful prior to my purchase and I will definitely buy from him again

[cyclopse]

100% Yannis interconnects in use here. I don't care if they are developed in his garage, they work very well and look professional.

[Kember]

100% Yannis interconnects in use here. I don't care if they are developed in his garage, they work very well and look professional.

Thanks all. Looks like a thoroughly worthwhile enterprise as well. I think I'll have chat with them.

Happy New Year

Peter