Which TT IC

[Jimbo]

What IC cable are folks using for their TT to Pre amp or Phono stage?

Just wanted to get an idea of which RCA IC,s are considered worth trying. I am currently using a Chord Chameleon VEE3 which works very well but I am sure it can be bettered?:)

[Desmo]

I'm using the Roksan HDC-03A high definition tone arm cable, and I replaced the IEC plugs with KLE Pure Harmony ones. Sounds pretty good to me.

[Zoidburg]

A bog standard Mark Grant G1000HD, I then use the same between my phono stage and amp. I also use the same from my dac to amp. Seems to do the job well enough.

[Barry]

Whatever cable the arm manufacturer supplied. :rolleyes:

[Jimbo]

Whatever cable the arm manufacturer supplied. :rolleyes:

My arm manufacturer recommends any shielded IC.

[Ammonite Audio]

The main note of caution, when using a MM cartridge such as the 2M Black, is cable capacitance (which of course contributes to the total capacitance 'seen' by the cartridge, along with the tonearm internal wiring and the parallel loading capacitors at the phono amp). Too much total capacitance and a MM cartridge like the 2M Black can sound shrill and ragged, giving a false impression of what it's really capable of. Capacitance is only one factor, of course, but it's unwise to ignore the physics when using MM cartridges.

So, my advice would be try a genuinely low capacitance shielded cable, such as the NVA Sound Cord (not the Super Sound Cord, since it's not shielded in the same way and may therefore be susceptible to hum when used as a tonearm-phono amp interconnect). Mark Grant's G2000HD cable appears to have a similarly low capacitance too, according to my measurements.

[Barry]

At 105pF/m the capacitance of the NVA Sound Chord is no different to many other coaxial cables. The FEP outer insulation and the steel inner conductor make the Sound Chords quite 'springy', which ought to be taken into consideration when when used with a tonearm mounted on a sprung deck, such as many belt drive designs.

[Ammonite Audio]

At 105pF/m the capacitance of the NVA Sound Chord is no different to many other coaxial cables. The FEP outer insulation and the steel inner conductor make the Sound Chords quite 'springy', which ought to be taken into consideration when when used with a tonearm mounted on a sprung deck, such as many belt drive designs.

My bad - the NVA SSC has vanishingly low capacitance but the SC is as you say, but AFAIK its innner conductor is silver plated copper, not steel.

The Mark Grant 2000HD cables are genuinely low capacitance at around 60pF per metre.

[Barry]

My bad - the NVA SSC has vanishingly low capacitance but the SC is as you say, but AFAIK its innner conductor is silver plated copper, not steel.

The Mark Grant 2000HD cables are genuinely low capacitance at around 60pF per metre.

I believe the NVA Sound Chords use RG316 cable, which does use a silver plated, copper-clad steel wire for the inner conductor. NVA may use a variant which uses a silver plated copper conductor. The only way to tell would be to see if the centre conductor is magnetic of not.

I have tried a pair of these cables and thought them to be stiff and 'springy'. Not a problem when used between pre and power, or between phonostage and pre, but they may not be suitable mechanically for use with sprung suspension TTs.

[Jimbo]

Interesting stuff chaps, I will check out the capacitance of my current cable especially as you suggest Hugo it may contribute to poorer performance with the 2M black.

I do however need a shielded cable as I do get hum issues with non-shielded.

What capacitance value should I be looking at taking into consideration the 2M Black? Just ball park figure.:)

[Ammonite Audio]

Interesting stuff chaps, I will check out the capacitance of my current cable especially as you suggest Hugo it may contribute to poorer performance with the 2M black.

I do however need a shielded cable as I do get hum issues with non-shielded.

What capacitance value should I be looking at taking into consideration the 2M Black? Just ball park figure.:)

As low as possible is the simple answer, but you need to know what input loading capacitors are fitted to your pre-amp too. TonyL over at PFM has written about this, so it would be worth doing a search there - he had also found that reducing the phono amp's input loading resistors from 47k to (iirc) 33k ohms really suited the 2M Black.

edit: some information here http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=163293&highlight=Ortofon+Black+loading