Phono cable advice.

Best phono cable under $500?

@chakster

Dollar for dollar, I have found nothing better than Anti-cables, at several different price points.  Anti-cables only recently started making phono cables, by which I refer to cables terminated at one end with a Cardas DIN plug and at the other end with KLE male RCAs or Xhadow male XLRs.  This is coming from someone who generally makes his own cables (me).  But I cannot do it as well or for much less cost than can Anti-cables.  ~$500 gets you very close to the very top of their line, for a one meter DIN to RCA cable.  That's what I just bought, and I am blown away.

@knollbrent

Best phono cable under $500?

@chakster

The best cable is used cable, because it is already burned-in and cost 50% less than new. Once i paid $600 for $2000 Stereolab Master Reference Phono cable right here on audiogon. This is what i like about used cables (the price). Stereovox, Stereolab and now The Black Cat are all made by Chris Sommovigo. He’s a guy who invented Xhadow RCA and XLR mentioned by Lewm. Now his new connectors called the LoveCraft premium. 

But today i will never spend even $500 for a cable. I really like Zu Audio copper Phono cables, i also like Signal Cable Silver Resolution which i am using with Xhadow RCAs.

My interconnect and speaker cables are Stereovox Colibri and Stereovox Firebird and i’m using them for decades.

In my opinion phono cable itself is about $150, the rest is the cost of the connectors that anyone can choose (Xhadow, WBT, KLE, LoveCraft etc).

In my opinion Xhadow RCA is the best connector in the world for DIYers. It does not require soldering of the signal (there is a screw), only ground.

BTW here is some more info about Master Reference Phono cable from Stereolab, this model is discontinued. I don’t know why some cable manufacturers are making new models every year, probably clever marketing.

Excellent info @lewm  @chakster  

About to set up Luxman with existing cables and give it a listen. Amp is in the shop, table is getting altered to fit the 444. 

The Duelund wire w/their RCAs are a giant killer. If you build them yourself, you'll be in it for $150. If Chris at www.partconnexion builds it, double that.