BEST TONEARM CABLE PURIST VENUSTUS GRAHAM IC 70

I always thought for phono cartridges, a "phono" cable was required and thus I only used such in this application. When I was looking to upgrade the Audio Research balanced phono cable, I contacted SilverAudio. Max there suggested I try their SilverBreeze tonearm cable. This brought on so much more resolution and openness over the ARC that I had not imagined possible. Initially this was on the Linn LP12 (din connector) and then later on a Clearaudio Ref TT (RCA-phono connectors). For $400 then, this was an unbeatable value. Even now in the $500-600 range, I suspect it has few if any peers in its price range.

With the Clearaudio tonearm having RCA connectors, I was recently able to try the Kubala-Sosna Emotion RCA ICs. According to Joe Kubala, these would work fine and he said they had no need to market a "phono" cable. He was right; this cable worked beautifully improving upon the SB's strengths with the K-S's trademark of greater see-through and blacker background attributes which resulted in more silence between the notes; tonality was as close as it gets. The differences were not subtle but they were not huge. At that point (late last year) the $2000 cost difference made no sense in this link of the system. The SB remained as it is that good.

And then two months later, I tried the Purist Venustas RCA ICs. The differences here were as dramtic but for different reasons. The Purist brings on a greater dynamic contrast and thus a more lively presentation over the SB. I did not hear any greater degree of resolution in the Venustas over the SB like I had previouslt with the K-S Emotion. Overall, I found the Venustas to be more musically involving so I ran with this for a month and then returned back to the SB. The SB's presentation was indeed more mellow but still I was so impressed with this cable. I guess it would depend ultimately on the cartridge or music as to which one to go with. With a $800-900 difference, the gap narrows. But on the used market, the difference is only $300 or so which makes it more realistic to compare the SB to the Venustas. For these auditions, the cartridge was the Clearaudio Accurate. Phono stage is Aesthetix Io.

I then got the opportunity to try a Purist Dominus "phono" cable. It was a bit shorter than the others so I had to shift components around to get it to work, but the result was incredible. The strengths brought on by the Venustas were magnified significantly here. Not only did the contrasts increase, but so did the bass foundation and the Dominus trademark of doing lower midrange textures like no other cable I have heard. To go back to the other cables was VERY difficult. But with the Clearaudio TT, this short of a cable would be a hassle. With the Versa Dynamics, where the RCA connectors are way down at the bottom of the back of the TT, these cables would be perfect.

I was able to borrow a 1m Dominus-B RCA IC from a local audiophile friend. When I tried this cable on the Clearaudio arm, I got the same benefits as to the Dominus phono cable. I did not compare the two Dominus RCA cables as I would have had to move the gear around again. But if there were any differences, they had to be very small. For my situation at least, the need to rely solely on a "phono" cable was determined to not be necessary.

Based on the above comments on the Venustas, I suspect the SilverBreeze could easily compete with the Hovland and Graham. So try and give this cable an audition. I suspect SilverAudio still offers 30-day home trials.

John

Hello Neil: Sorry for the lack of clarity as I described one cable to the next.

The SilverAudio SB purchased from Max was Din-to-XLR. Phono stage then was ARC PH2 that I ran with for about 5 years, then BAT VK-P10 for about 2 and now 2.5 for the Io. Each of these has XLR inputs so the XLR terminations on the SB remained. But when I changed from the Linn to the Clearaudio, I changed the SB to have RCA connectors on the tonearm side. I was finally able to find a tiny hex wrench, pop off the din connector and then solder on RCA plugs to connect to the tonearm. The signal was still truly balanced as I was driving the PH2 with + and - phases from the cartridge.

Late last year, with my system fully loaded with K-S Emotion cables except for speaker cables (which were NBS Statement), one final test was to compare the SB to the K-S RCA for the tonearm. The differences here were previously reported.

I then returned all the K-S cables to the factory, which meant I went back to using the SB tonearm cable and the NBS Statement XLR from Io to Callisto. The Io MUST be driven with an XLR cable to the Callisto or the dimensionality is greatly reduced. Even the much more colored and muddy NBS XLR easily outperforms the K-S RCA here, in the context of dimensionality and textures. This made me realize the need to run balanced in this link.

Not being able to afford all the K-S at the time and still wanting to hear the super expensive Dominus before I locked myself into the K-S, I got RCA and XLR Venustas IC cables to try as the tonearm and Io-Callisto link respectively. Since the K-S RCA worked beautifully as a tonearm cable, it made sense to try the std Venustas IC here as well.

It took me no time to realize how the Venustas XLR was as refined over the NBS as the K-S XLR had been....but just in different ways. In any case, the NBS was history as a cable from Io to Callisto. The Venustas XLR was used from then on in the Io-to-Callisto link and remains there today until I can further compare the top-echelon of XLR cables. The tonearm cable shootout of the SB vs. Venustas RCA followed with the results previously reported.

I do not think it mattered what cable I had in the Io-Callisto link when it came to hearing the tonearm cable differences. Tonally, the SB vs. K-S RCA and the SB vs. Venustas RCA are so very close. The strengths of the K-S (ultimate resolution and silence) and Venustas (dynamics) are what came through vs. the SB tonearm cable. And once again, for the price, I feel the SB has no peers. It really is that impressive.

I have since managed to again borrow K-S Emotion RCA and compare to Dominus RCA from my DAC to the Callisto. The strenghts of these two cables is consistent at each link I compare them. The Io-Callisto link comparison remains as I have not been able to borrow a Dominus XLR. When I can locate one, I will again borrow a K-S Emotion XLR. So far these two lines impress me the most. And they work so very well together. It is a personal balance between the ultimate see-through nature and detailed top end of the K-S vs. the more lively, bass-extended and textured Purist.

Hope this answers your questions.

John

Neil, I wanted to make one clarification concerning the Aesthetix Io phono stage. The ARC PH2 and BAT VK-P10 are balanced phono stages from input to output. I had always read the Io's INPUT is not balanced; the input signal is ultimately converted to balanced on the input stage and then balanced from then on.

I used a DMM to confirm the above. The Io has XLR and RCA connectors on the input. With the RCA ICs into the Io, the DMM confirmed that the signal-return line is indeed grounded. It is easy to see this with the L & R returns measuring zero resistance relative to each other. The two phases could have been lifted from ground with the use of a separate ground line but the Io does not support this.

I then plugged in the SB's XLRs into the Io and the measurement indicated each minus phase was grounded. An easy confirmation on the XLR's pins of the Io's chassis showed this was indeed not due to the SB cable. So yes, the Io grounds the cartridge's return signal for each channel rather than floating the cartridge above ground which would result in the cartridge acting as a "balanced" or complimentary device.

I'm not sure why the Io was designed this way, but in the final analysis, I'm currently not running my cartridge in a truly balanced manner. There is no benefit to use a tonearm cable terminated with XLR cables into the Io. But perhaps with a unit like the BAT VK-P10 which also has XLR and RCA inputs, but with the XLRs being truly balanced, maybe the SB would outperform or be closer to the RCA terminated Venustas ICs.....just a thought.

The proof is in the pudding as the Io far exceeds the musical performance of the very good PH2 and VK-P10 that I had before; there is much more going on than processing the cartridge as a balanced device but I have to believe it would be beneficial.

John