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AudioQuest capacitance

C

Canticleer

New Member
Hi,

I'm in pursuit of a total load capacitance of max. 200pF to suit my Audio-Technica cartridge and I contacted the AudioQuest customer service to ask about the capacitance of their Evergreen, Golden Gate and Big Sur phono cables (three cables that are availbale here locally) and I got a reply that all three of them are around 30pF/meter. That's less than 10pF/foot! Is such a low number realistic?

Thanks.
 
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It does seem low. I wonder if they got that reversed (30pF/foot) or dropped a zero (300pF/meter)?
 
I was thinking the same, so I replied and asked if that was around 10pF/foot. Yes, seemed it was. I never saw such a low number... so I don't know.
 
When inquired of Audioquest about the capacitance of my Wildcat phono IC's (one meter) they said 65 pF. So, right in line with what you've been told. :thumbsup:
 
30pF/meter is very low. 100pF/meter is typical and 60pF/meter is low. I've seen 50pF/meter but I've never seen 30pF/meter.
 
When inquired of Audioquest about the capacitance of my Wildcat phono IC's (one meter) they said 65 pF. So, right in line with what you've been told. :thumbsup:
Canticleer said:
Sorry I'm new to this whole thing and I don't understand. How comes that 65pF/meter for your Wildcat phono IC's is in line with 30pF/meter for the other cables?
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OK, they're 20pF per foot vs 10pF. Yes twice as much but the total is still a minimal for the intended usage. I was curious as who was to be the first to make an issue of the discrepancy. Thank you for not failing me. :rolleyes:
 
If there's any lingering doubt why doesn't someone measure one of the cables models.
I have doubts of the 10pf ft statement personally.
 
This is indeed a good idea. I don't own one of those cables (yet) so I can't help. But I do have some serious doubts about the 10pF/ft claim too.
 
rothwellaudio said:
30pF/meter is very low. 100pF/meter is typical and 60pF/meter is low. I've seen 50pF/meter but I've never seen 30pF/meter.
Click to expand...

Not quite 30 pF/m, but Nagaoka used to offer the PM-115 (intended for MMs - they also had a PC-115 for MCs), which was specified with 35 pF/m.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
Cc: Sorry, can't really comment on that. I'd have to see the raw cable materials and how these are confected for an educated guesstiation, whether 30 pF/m would seem realistic for those three AQ cables.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini


edit: typo extermination... *sigh*
 
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I used to pick up any cables that looked decent that I ran across cheap. The lowest capacitance I ever measured was a 3' pair I bought new 40 yrs ago at radio shack, 50pF. The most was an unbranded 6' pair, 850pF.
 
Methinks AudioQuest, based on their reply, has people answering questions without being really on top of things.

Doug
 
olddude55 said:
Blue Jeans Cable used to sell interconnects at 12pf/ft. I have a couple sets.
Click to expand...

I made my own phono cables using the Blue Jeans LC-1 cable (12.2 pF/ft - black) and some Canare F-09 connectors. I cut down a pair of 10' LC-1 interconnects and made 2 pairs of 3' cables and 1 pair of 2' cables. I also made 3 pairs of 3' and 3 pairs of 2' interconnects from a pair of 15' Canare LV-77S (21/pF/ft - white) interconnects.

DIY-Interconnect-Cables-9.jpg


I'm really happy with way they turned out. I use the LC-1 cables for my turntables and the LV-77S for everything else (although they could also be used for turntables in a pinch as 21pF/ft is still reasonably low capacitance). My Harman Kardon T60 originally came with a pair of "ultra low capacitance" phono cables, but they were long gone before I got it. I figure these LC-1 cables are as close as I'm going to get to the originals.
 
There is a guy on eBay who sells Van Damme silver coated IC's with fake ABT connectors that is insanely low capacitance. I use them and have compared them to much more pricey IC's and they always win. $35 a pair or so.
 
Use a DMM multimeter to measure it.
If you don't have one, look for one.

They are a must-have tool in my opinion.
And those things are cheap and plentiful nowadays.
 
This is an old thread but I'm looking at AQ for low capacitance. I already have multiple pairs of Sidewinder and one set of Copperhead. Or, do the new models differ since they are only a single cable split at the terminations? (Golden Gate, Big Sur for instance).

BTW, if you're ever wondering about Transparent Musiclink IC's for phono, they are 180pf/meter. The Link Gen 5 is 200pf. Got that from them and also sent an email to AQ.
 
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