Best Type of Interconnect for Turntable?


Hi, I am planning to add a top-end turntable to my system, paired with my Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated with the optional phono card installed, and I'm wondering what type of interconnect I will need.  I have ALL of my devices going through one Torus RM-20 isolation transformer, which, if it matters, has a ground terminal (my Diablo amp also has a ground terminal). I plan to power the turntable with the Torus as well. Given I plan to have the turntable directly next to my amp, I'm guessing the simplest interconnect would be a 0.75m RCA.

I see that many brands (Audioquest, etc) offer phono-specific interconnects, and interconnects with ground cables etc. 

Given my setup, what type of interconnect should I be after for my turntable - a phono-specific RCA cord, an RCA that has a third ground wire, or just a plain old dual channel RCA?

 

 

nyev

It depends. I would get all your equipment. Set it up and listen to it for at least 300 - 400 hours before thinking about the interconnects. If you are getting a top notch table… then you have lots of interconnects laying around. Most of my equipment did not finish major breakin for 300 hours and just got better through 1,000 hours. 

 

Then give us something to work with. What you have now and exactly what you are getting… cartridge? Photos of your venue can really help us understand the environment you will be putting it in. There is a place under your user ID to create your virtual system so we can see your space and what you have now.

 

@nyev maybe a picture of the optional phono card?

It looks like it has 2 inputs that are balanced, so I would be using a balanced IC as opposed to RCAs.

Which means that the TT should have balanced connectors.
I have one tone arm that has a DIN to RCA, and another that terminates into a block that houses the XLRs.

 

I have ALL of my devices going through one Torus RM-20 isolation transformer, which, if it matters, has a ground terminal (my Diablo amp also has a ground terminal).

I would be having the ground from the TT tied directly to the integrated.
That could be either via and XLR shield… or via the shield wires of RCAs, where the RCAs carry the +/- at the tone arm end, and the chassis ground is tied to the RCA cable shield.
Then on the preamp/integrated side those shield wires are both tied there.

I just made up some a couple of weeks ago which are XLR on the TT side and RCA for the phono amp side. The shield wires on the phone side are long and exit before the RCA to be tied to the phono amp ground tab.

 

Which TT are you considering?
Galibier Design in Colorado makes cables and nice TTs, and is pretty pleasant to talk with. I would just outsource your cable to Tom directly, and not overthink it.

It’ll probably be between $500-1k$ for a custom cable, but it will be likely be optimal.

 

The other advice I got from (Mark) Dohmann was to go to bigger ga as quickly as possible… So rather than use a long 30ga Linz all the way out to the phono stage, have the tonearm cable short and then move to a 20-23 ga to get the last 3/4 m.

Hi, I’m considering a VPI Prime Signature TT.  Possibly with a Lyra cartridge by not sure.

My amp’s phono card is only tied to RCA input 5.  There are two true balanced inputs on my amp but these cannot be tied to the phono card.

Thanks for the advice and it looks like I will want an RCA cable that has the third ground connector tied to the cable shield. 

Having said that I will wait until after the table is burned in to choose the interconnect.  I do have some spare interconnects but these have no third ground connection.

I’m sorting through some frustrating balance issues on my system currently as per my other thread, so I currently need to take my time to work through that before doing anything with a new TT.

On page 2 here: 

 

it says:

Renaissance offers both a phono and XLR breakout box for the arm at purchase (the XLR box is a £175 option otherwise

I would determine, wether you want a balanced phono stage, etc, before going too far. And then the TT should have XLR outputs.
Your TT person would advise.
 

My old ARC phono stage was XLR, but I was not doing what I should have…

     What you pick for a phono cable (for the best sound), should be determined by the type of cartridge chosen (MC/MM/MI) and that cart's specific loading requirements*.

     To many variables for any specific advice, until you narrow the field way down.

     *Further info, under Cartridge Loading, in this article:

              https://sumikophonocartridges.com/what-is-a-phono-cartridge/

 

 

    Make that, "TOO many variables..."

    Need to proofread/proof-read/proof read, now and then!

I use Ayre electronics which are fully balanced so I got xlr connections for the turntable outputs as well.