tonearm cable straight through or plug in

Go straight through. When you count the number of metal-on-metal clip and solder joints eliminated it makes perfect sense, particularly for a low-level signal at the source. The only question is whether you're prepared to rewire a tonearm.

"traight through cable from cartridge to amp - less connections etc... "

You need to have a preamp. Its not optional.

Agree with ZD; I think Dgarretson had read "amp" to be "preamp" in your post. Only qualification is that you could use a standalone phono stage with enough gain and a volume control (like the Aesthetix IO) in lieu of the preamp. But, except in the unusual case of a cartridge that has one (like the Strain Gauge), you need the phono stage (or a preamp with one) for the RIAA equalization it provides.

Straight through is the best sound with a great cable.

Hi Parrotbee (PB)

based on my experiences, it depends....

Analog is all based on good setup, and whether One Shot Wiring would even work depends on the tonearm design, and if it even allows for One Shot complications.

A couple of questions.

Are you talking about doing a total replace of internal wires as DG suggests, or are you talking about running external wires and bypassing the armtube ?

We are not talking about wireless here. There are four wires and "physics" in play. Assuming we are discussing a pivot tonearm; this means anti skating needs to be considered and how the wires would be set up to deal with that. If they even can be. Just one consideration.

So....can you share the tonearm in question ?

PB .....straight through cable from cartridge to amp - less connections etc...

Assuming you are using an integrated amp (with phono) or did you mean pre-amp ?

Cheers