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Thread: Phono to preamp interconnects

  1. #1
    Join Date: May 2010

    Location: Vancouver, Canada

    Posts: 2,166
    I'm Alex.

    Default Phono to preamp interconnects

    Being a big time skeptic about the importance of interconnects, I've been using some el cheapo no name interconnects between my phone and my preamp. A few days ago I visited my local hi fi store to buy some inner sleeves for my LPs. Started chatting with the sales guy, and after explaining what turntable, tonearm, cartridge and phono I'm using, he asked me which interconnects am I using to hook the front end to the preamp. I told him that I don't believe that could ever make any difference, and that I'm using just some cheap no name wire. To which he insisted that I'm making a huge mistake and that I should reconsider.

    I didn't feel like spending any money on what I consider to be snake oil, but he told me: "Tell you what -- I have these interconnects here (and points at the AudioQuest Red River) on sale; why don't you buy them, take them home, and if you can't hear any difference, bring them back for a full refund. How's that -- you can't lose."

    OK, I was in a good mood, so I decided to give it a shot. Went home and first listened to the "Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody" off Joni Mitchell's "Wild Things Run Fast" LP. I know that track quite well, so I thought if there are any possible differences in the before-and-after comparison, I should be able to hear them.

    Switched to the Red River interconnects, and sat down to listen to the same track again. And then found my jaw dropped to the floor! Incredible difference. Red River just opened up the sound, and made everything so much more clear. Plus, the sound gained ton of weight and slam.

    I found myself shaking my head in disbelief. How's this possible? How can a tiny piece of wire make such a difference?

    So my question is: since Red River is an entry level interconnect, would it make sense to upgrade and go for some high end cable (such as Yukon)? Would I hear similar degree of improvement, or would I be hitting the field of diminishing returns?
    Don't you just hate it when you cannot detect where the post ends and a signature line begins?

    Alex.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by magiccarpetride View Post
    Being a big time skeptic about the importance of interconnects, I've been using some el cheapo no name interconnects between my phone and my preamp. A few days ago I visited my local hi fi store to buy some inner sleeves for my LPs. Started chatting with the sales guy, and after explaining what turntable, tonearm, cartridge and phono I'm using, he asked me which interconnects am I using to hook the front end to the preamp. I told him that I don't believe that could ever make any difference, and that I'm using just some cheap no name wire. To which he insisted that I'm making a huge mistake and that I should reconsider.

    I didn't feel like spending any money on what I consider to be snake oil, but he told me: "Tell you what -- I have these interconnects here (and points at the AudioQuest Red River) on sale; why don't you buy them, take them home, and if you can't hear any difference, bring them back for a full refund. How's that -- you can't lose."

    OK, I was in a good mood, so I decided to give it a shot. Went home and first listened to the "Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody" off Joni Mitchell's "Wild Things Run Fast" LP. I know that track quite well, so I thought if there are any possible differences in the before-and-after comparison, I should be able to hear them.

    Switched to the Red River interconnects, and sat down to listen to the same track again. And then found my jaw dropped to the floor! Incredible difference. Red River just opened up the sound, and made everything so much more clear. Plus, the sound gained ton of weight and slam.

    I found myself shaking my head in disbelief. How's this possible? How can a tiny piece of wire make such a difference?

    So my question is: since Red River is an entry level interconnect, would it make sense to upgrade and go for some high end cable (such as Yukon)? Would I hear similar degree of improvement, or would I be hitting the field of diminishing returns?
    some will say it cant, like yourself a short while ago. No guarantee another more expensive one will be better, and even if it is it might only be 5% better for a lot of wonga. I like Brian of this parish's homemade ones but its horses for courses. Ive a few of geoffs make and they are great too, just currently too long
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
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    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

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  3. #3
    Join Date: May 2010

    Location: Vancouver, Canada

    Posts: 2,166
    I'm Alex.

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    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    some will say it cant, like yourself a short while ago. No guarantee another more expensive one will be better, and even if it is it might only be 5% better for a lot of wonga. I like Brian of this parish's homemade ones but its horses for courses. Ive a few of geoffs make and they are great too, just currently too long
    So the leap from no-name wires to entry level AudioQuest is the most dramatic one? Any upgrade from the entry level to the top shelf wouldn't be that staggering?
    Don't you just hate it when you cannot detect where the post ends and a signature line begins?

    Alex.

  4. #4
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by magiccarpetride View Post
    So the leap from no-name wires to entry level AudioQuest is the most dramatic one? Any upgrade from the entry level to the top shelf wouldn't be that staggering?
    it might, but but unlikely. may note be as good. you can rarely tell til you try.

    some do a return if not happy I think
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  5. #5
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    The same also applies to speaker cable and believe it or not digital coax cables. Changes are very audible on my system and of course I always opt for what sounds best to me, which is not necessarily the most expensive.

    (I'm expecting a slap on the wrist from Jez at any moment for having the audacity to suggest speaker cables can sound different! )
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  6. #6
    Join Date: May 2010

    Location: Vancouver, Canada

    Posts: 2,166
    I'm Alex.

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    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    The same also applies to speaker cable and believe it or not digital coax cables. Changes are very audible on my system and of course I always opt for what sounds best to me, which is not necessarily the most expensive.

    (I'm expecting a slap on the wrist from Jez at any moment for having the audacity to suggest speaker cables can sound different! )
    I have no qualms understanding and accepting that speaker cables can make a difference. But a tiny piece of wire from the phono to the preamp? Come on! That's like science fiction.

    And yet, not only are my ears not deceiving me, my wife also noticed the difference although she had no idea that I swapped anything in my stereo. (I know, the proverbial wife who is always used as the 'proof' that the shill sales pitch is real
    Don't you just hate it when you cannot detect where the post ends and a signature line begins?

    Alex.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: NE England

    Posts: 4,173
    I'm Jez.

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    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    The same also applies to speaker cable and believe it or not digital coax cables. Changes are very audible on my system and of course I always opt for what sounds best to me, which is not necessarily the most expensive.

    (I'm expecting a slap on the wrist from Jez at any moment for having the audacity to suggest speaker cables can sound different! )
    Have another one for suggesting any sort of cable makes a difference ever
    Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)

    Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
    ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
    Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
    Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco

  8. #8
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Essex

    Posts: 31,853
    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    Listen to them for a few days, then revert back to the original cables. If the sound changes for the worse, then you know the difference you originally heard was a genuine improvement and so keep the Red Rivers.
    Last edited by Barry; 14-08-2017 at 19:18.
    Barry

  9. #9
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

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    I've been saying cables make a difference for 30 years much to some people's amusement and derision - welcome to the club
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  10. #10
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Cables do make a difference. Get Brian to make you some of his Klotz or his Hybrids. See if they float your boat. They seem to float a lot of people's, including me.

    Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

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