Dear @inna : IC cables always are important but if you look deeper ask you: where the cartridge signal can " suffer " the highest degradation and develops higher distortions?
Obviously that at each system link from the very first time the stylus tip hits the very first LP groove but I think that's inside the phonolinepremp where the dmage can goes in an " exponential " faster way because is here where the cartridge signal have to travel in a extremely " tortuose " road with to many different stages: different gain stages from the input, the " terrible " very high levels equalization stage through the inverse RIAA eq, it's in the phono stage where the signal pass through several passive and active devices that degrades its quality levels and it's there where has to deal with generated resistance/impedance/capacitance and even inductance as with parasitic distortions and " errors " in the phonolinepreamp design.
Every system audio link is important and for the cartridge signal the phono stage is its LIFE.
You can have the best cartridge with the best IC cables and best tonearm/TT set up but if that signal goes inside a not decent phonolinepreamp everything goes to the trash.
R.
