Long cables from turntable or phono stage

That's what Ebm thinks, but in reality most of cartridges designed for 1m cable length.

One solution for running a perfect line signal the lenth of your house if necessary. This requires two "baluns", one for send and another for recv, plus Ethernet 6 to connect the two. Run the Ethernet from max of 2500 feet to "Baluns", and short RCA from "baluns" to component. This will give you a crystal clear signal from the basement to the farthest end of your house upstairs.

Last night the local Thorens expert recommended I move my Parasound JC-3 to a shelf just below my TD 124. The arm is an SME 3009 Series III with Ortofon SME 30H cartridge. Should I use a 1 meter cable even though a half meter would be sufficient? I'm thinking of using Linn Silver cable.

db

09-21-13: Dbphd
Last night the local Thorens expert recommended I move my Parasound JC-3 to a shelf just below my TD 124. The arm is an SME 3009 Series III with Ortofon SME 30H cartridge. Should I use a 1 meter cable even though a half meter would be sufficient? I'm thinking of using Linn Silver cable.

It appears that the Ortofon SME 30H moving magnet cartridge has a recommended load capacitance of 400 pf, which is on the high side. And your phono stage does not provide adjustable load capacitance, so its input capacitance is probably smallish, perhaps something like 50 pf or even less. I couldn't find any info on the capacitance per unit length of the Linn Silver cable, but I suspect that it is unlikely to be more than around 50 pf/foot.

So the problem you would probably have with either length is too little total capacitance. With a MM cartridge having too little load capacitance is likely to result in thinness somewhere in the treble region.

You might want to consider using, at least experimentally, this kit, which makes possible adding various amounts of capacitance. It costs $46, and is sold by DB Systems (see the "Accessories" link).

After determining the optimal amount of added load capacitance you could then install a capacitor of that value into the JC3, for each channel. Or, if you would prefer not to make any modifications to the JC3, using a pair of the capacitors that are in the kit in conjunction with good quality y-adapters would probably be a reasonable long-term solution. (IMO, that is. Other opinions about using y-adapters as a long-term solution will certainly differ in some cases).

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks Al. I'll order a kit from DB Systems. The turntable currently has what looks to be a 1.5 meter AQ cable that I understand cost less than $200. I think really good vinyl sounds superb, a bit better than SACD of the same recording played on my Oppo 105 with analog to Cary Cinema 11a inputs set to bypass. The JC-3 also inputs to the Cary.

db