Regular interconnect vs a phono interconnect?

[soundhd]

I have ordered an analog section (turntable, phono pre-amp and cart.) for my 2 channel system. I have been seeing that some of the cable manufacturer's are making "phono interconnect" cables.
Are these any different then a "regular" interconnect and if so how are they different?

 

[grumpy]

I think you are talking about these. The difference is the Din plug and ground. Now there used to be a Sumiko product that accepted a Din plug from the Tonearm and it provided for you to use any RCA type plug your hearts desired going to your phono stage.

Grumpy

 

[grumpy]

Oh yeah congrats on acquiring a TT. What ya get ?

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

You also have to pay attention to capacitance with the cables. It's more critical with phono stuff than it is with line-level stuff.

 

[Lefty]

Originally posted by CELT
You also have to pay attention to capacitance with the cables. It's more critical with phono stuff than it is with line-level stuff.

That is most correct about Phono cables Vs interconnect cables. Whatever capacitance the cable has is added to the 'load' capacitance of the cartridge as seen by the phono preamp input stage. If you ever take a connector off a real phono cable you will see that the center connector is of a very small gauge. This is why so many vintage TTs have intermittent hum and signal drop offs as the center conductor seperates internally usually right at the strain relief on the TT or at either connector end.

In a pinch you could probably use normal interconnect cables and just use a single conductor wire for the ground wire, but the sound might be a little different due to the change in total capacitance seen by the preamp....

Lefty

 

[soundhd]

I ordered a VPI Scoutmaster, Sumiko Blackbird cart. and a Quicksilver tube phono stage........as for the interconnects it just uses standard RCA connectors at both ends....as for the 'load' capacitance what should I be looking for in a "phono interconnect"? Also I assume I can use just a normal interconnect between the phono pre-amp and my system preamp?

 

[soundhd]

I ordered 20ft of Pro Studio Interconnect cable and 4 sets of Ultimate RCA connectors from DH Labs (www.silversonic.com)....we will see how this DIY works.....will post after I get everything and get the cables built and running.
:scratch2:

 

[reyneman]

soundhd- sounds like a great vinyl frontend you're getting there! And I personally find DHLabs to be one of the great values in interconnects and speakerwires- known name at a realistic price.

Please be sure and post your impressions of the gear after you have a good long listen to em.

Me? I don't think you'll have many probs with the interconnects. If it is flexible, your phono pre normally allows some cap adjustment to optimize the sound. Most of the reccommended loads have a hidden value for a certain amount of connection capacitance anyway, so as long as the cables are within a normal range the problem should be nonexistent.

Of course this is coming from a guy who litened to a misloaded cart for almost two years before he found out it was wrong, so you may want to listen to others' inputs first