RCA Phono Interconnect Under $400


I'm on the hunt for a 1 meter RCA phono interconnect to link my soon-to-arrive refurbished Sota Sapphire to a Jolida JD-9 phono stage.  The turntable will have a Hana cartridge and Rega 330 tone arm.  My budget is under $400.  What's the consensus for cables out there? 

 

Thanks,

John Cotner

New Ulm, MN

jrcotner

Thanks for all of your input.  I pulled the trigger on the Zafino cables.  I found a demo pair marked down so saved a little more money. 

This may not be very popular but I recently purchased some cables off eBay. What you want in a phono cable is extremely low capacitance. These are super low. I was using transparent audio cables and these blew them away. I very much believe that cables matter but do not always believe that all the technology being implemented is the right thing. This is a simple cable made from very high quality wire. For me, it's all that's needed and sounds amazing. 

 

In addition to low capacitance you also want shielding from RFI. Since a shield adds capacitance, it’s not so simple.

I addition to your choosing your tonearm cable, I found when I had a  Jolida JD-9, it benefited from using silver interconnects (to the amp), an upgraded power cord, installing damping material to the inside of the chassis, removing the tube shields and using Herbies Tenderfeet. Don’t be afraid of trying different settings on the rear switch panel. Start with the suggested settings for your cartridge and amplifier, but also try others to get the sound you might prefer.