Best cable for Graham 2.2

I know I am entering this debate a bit late, but I now use Discovery Essential phono cable. This was significantly more neutral than the XLO 3.1 that preceeded it, and more musical (not as hyperdetailed) as a silver cable that I tried.

Hi SirSpeedy,

I have owned my Linn turntable from 1979, and now have a Graham 2.2 arm on it. I bought my cartridge from Brooks Berdan, and have listened to most of his Graham equiped tables and the Cardas cables. The Silver Audio Silver Breeze cable is as good as any I have heard for detail retrieval, harmonics and soundstage. The Venustas that I switched to is better, with the same qualities but more smoothness and the music emerges from a very black background.

I would not have been able to afford the prices you are talking about either, but these cables are available used through the Cable Company form time to time. I bought mine new through Albert Porter (a regular on Audiogon). Speedy, I believe you at your word that this topic is of great interest to you, as I have read your contributions on other issues analog. If you are near Los Angeles, you are welcome to have a listen. If not, the Cable Company can let you try one.

Best regards,

DuffyDawg

Nsgarsh,and Duffydawg---Thanks so much for your attentiveness,and good natured responses.I truly believe you,regarding your perceptions,related here.While I would love to see if I can squeeze a bit more performance from my analog rig,I do have to admit to being very happy,at the moment(which means nothing in this hobby).

This past weekend,and after thinking through the "record clamp/weight" article written in Stereophile,I decided to do a little tweaking(just out of curiosity)to my Sota Reflex Clamp(for my Cosmos).I had accidentally flicked my finger on it,a few days ago,and noticed a ping (not the golf clubs),which sounded like a wine glass being struck.I went to Home Depot and got some self adhesive,thin cork liner(I thought about stuff like sorbothane,but did not want too much damping,or any real damping,just a better interface).This,I cut to match the bottom of my clamp(which I use as a weight,not as a clamp,since once the vacuum takes hold there is a small gap between the record and clamp,basically the clamp is doing nothing,at this point,so to use it as a weight makes real sense,to me).

My pal is "hot to trot"(he has same table/arm cart)to spend Shun Mook bucks,for their weight(which they claim is no longer being made),yet I am concerned as to NOT adding anymore weight to the bearing,hence my mod.

Well I am either crazy or the Chardonnay was too strong,but the SOTA clamp must have been creating some feedback,which my cartridge was picking up.

I was able to effectively voice my arm/cartridge to a much better "timbre",and found a clearly audible improvement across the board from a "Little, thought provoking tweak",hence my wanting to re-visit the arm cabling issue,which is probably capable of yielding a nice change in sound.My only problem is--How much improvement over the ic-70,in MY system,and as I'm really getting "tweaked out"( trust me,my knees and back are feeling it all),is it worth looking into.Even with the "trials" by Cable Co.,and the very appealing offer by YOU Nsgarsh(you already know I respect your opinions),it is a really tough decision,though my pal may be interested.Also,when I spoke to the guy at Purist(he WAS a very nice fellow,BTW),he related the Venustas vs Graham review(written in Pos feedback).As I did read it,the review is useless,since the reviewer was comparing the Venustas to the ic-30,which is NO match to the ic-70.Believe me,I'm not hitching my car to the ic-70,yet I need more effective evidence.This will probably have to come in the form of a trial,in my own system.This,also,will probably not happen soon.

Only time,and the condition of my back,will tell!!

Best regards to all,and sorry for the lengthly diatribe!!

Speedy, I don't feel like you need anything else if you have the vacuum hold down. It really is the very best way to eliminate vibes in the vinyl feeding back to the stylus, except when occasionally it won't work because the record isn't flat enough.

My Sota clamp used to have a rubber ring stuck to the bottom outer edge, maybe they don't make them that way anymore?

Blueranger, one thing that's important to remember when considering phono cables, is the very small current they must carry, especially w/ the very lo output MC cartridges. So the ability to reject noise from both EMI/RFI as well as shock and vibration is paramount, probably moreso than the conductor material itself. As Mark mentioned, the Purist design cables are especially quiet. They use a Ferox jacket (sort of an iron-oxide powder or paste) which is why the cable is so fat. This provides not only superior shielding, but shock and vibration resistance. The conductor material is a copper-silver alloy. All their cables also receive their "Cryo-Mag" treatment in which a strong magnetic field is applied while the cables are being cryo'd, providing additional molecular alignment of the metal. Each cable is hand-built to length (they can't be shortened and re-terminated, for instance) So there really is a reason why they cost so much (as opposed to some products which cost a lot only for profit.)

What ever you decide to buy, if you're using a separate phono preamp, I suggest using the same IC between it and the preamp as for your phono cables. It seems to work better that way IMO.

Nsgarsh,if you have ever put your ear to your record,with the volume turned way down,and in mute,there IS STILL a resonant sound coming from the record being played from the cartridge.This is evident,even with vacuum.Hence the idea of some kind of weight to absorb/or dampen this,a bit,doesn't seem to hurt.This resonant energy cannot be eliminated,yet clearly affects the sound,in some,not so good way!As in my case,the cork interface yielded a really nice reward,and was cheap!!I assume that the Shun Mook weight does this to a good degree,hence the great review!Unfortunately,it sells(sold) for 1800.00 U.S. dollars.My little cork interface cost me 6 bucks,plus 20 minutes of labor!!I'm happy,for this week.

Best wishes!!