Question on Turntable RCA Cable

[2sixR]

I have an old Technics SL-D202 turntable I am going to take out of storage and hook up to my system... was wondering about the standard rca cables that came with the TT... is it recommended to change these out to a better quality cable... I ordered up some Blue Jeans LC-1 interconnects to run from my Phono Preamp to IA, was wondering if the stock rca cables would be a negative in any way with signal quality... thanks.

 

[dosmalo]

If they were very easy at all to access, take a look at where they're soldered in. If that all looks good, button it back up and listen. If they sound good to you, leave them. If not, you already know where they go and what you need to do to replace them.

 

[boreas]

If they were very easy at all to access, take a look at where they're soldered in. If that all looks good, button it back up and listen. If they sound good to you, leave them. If not, you already know where they go and what you need to do to replace them.

The OP's Technics has removable RCAs. What's required for turntables are cables that are of low capacitance and are well shielded. Good quality component video cables (Red/Blue/Green) work very well. They're well shielded and of low capacitance.

This goes for the cables between the phono stage and amp too, especially since capacitance increases with the length of the cable(s). I'm not familiar with the Blue Jeans LC-1 cables. Apparently, though, "LC" stands for "Low Capacitance" so they're probably fine.

John

 

[hakaplan]

The OP's Technics has removable RCAs. What's required for turntables are cables that are of low capacitance and are well shielded. Good quality component video cables (Red/Blue/Green) work very well. They're well shielded and of low capacitance.

This goes for the cables between the phono stage and amp too, especially since capacitance increases with the length of the cable(s). I'm not familiar with the Blue Jeans LC-1 cables. Apparently, though, "LC" stands for "Low Capacitance" so they're probably fine.

John

John, you may be thinking of the p-mount SL-D200. The D202 is an s-arm table with, IIRC, wired-in cables.

I have an old Technics SL-D202 turntable I am going to take out of storage and hook up to my system... was wondering about the standard rca cables that came with the TT... is it recommended to change these out to a better quality cable... I ordered up some Blue Jeans LC-1 interconnects to run from my Phono Preamp to IA, was wondering if the stock rca cables would be a negative in any way with signal quality... thanks.

I don't know what "IA" stands for, but as long as it's not a turntable, the irony here is that you could use any stock cable for that run, but the low capacitance Blue Jeans cable would be better for the connection from the turntable to preamp, and they are excellent. Otherwise, I agree with John's suggestion of video component cables, or even the yellow video composite cable usually sold as a single cable. Do not use stock RCA "audio" cables for phono use.

 

[boreas]

John, you may be thinking of the p-mount SL-D200. The D202 is an s-arm table with, IIRC, wired-in cables.

No, I was thinking of the S-arm (I had an SL-D303) but I could certainly be mistaken about removable ICs.

[EDIT] And I am. I just checked the OM for the D202 and there's no mention in the set-up instructions of plugging any ICs into the turntable. Sorry!

John

 

[boreas]

I don't know what "IA" stands for

Integrated amp?

John

 

[2sixR]

IA = Integrated Amp... I have a number of Monster Cable RCA IC's in a drawer, would those be better than the stock cables from the turntable to the phono preamp or should I get some more blue jeans IC's for this... is it a retrofit I should have a shop do or is it pretty straight forward?

 

[classic carl]

You want to use the low capacitance cables from the TT to the phono pre and any standard audio cables from the phono pre to the amp. It is a fairly simple job if you can solder. The only issue may be that the new cables are a larger diameter than the stock cables. This may require enlarging the opening for the cables in the TT base.

 

[boreas]

IA = Integrated Amp... I have a number of Monster Cable RCA IC's in a drawer, would those be better than the stock cables from the turntable to the phono preamp or should I get some more blue jeans IC's for this... is it a retrofit I should have a shop do or is it pretty straight forward?

From what Howard (hakaplan) said, it looks like the Monsters would be better between the phono preamp and the integrated amp. I guess the low capacitance isn't critical downstream from the preamp. (I did not know that! but it makes perfect sense since the signal is amplified when it leaves the pre.) That would mean that the Blue Jeans ICs would be the ones to use from TT to preamp unless, of course, the Monsters are low capacitance component video cables in which case I suppose which went where wouldn't matter much.

John

 

[boreas]

... is it a retrofit I should have a shop do or is it pretty straight forward?

As classic carl said, it's pretty straightforward if you have any soldering skills. Once you remove the bottom it's pretty easy to see what's involved.

As I recall, there's a small printed circuit board where the tonearm wires and the ICs connect. There are 10 wires in total, 5 from the tonearm and 5 for the ICs and ground wire. It's really only a matter of unsoldering the old ICs and peeling them away from the ground, which can stay in place, and then soldering in the new ICs.

As classic carl also said, you may - probably will - need to enlarge the holes in the back of the turntable so that the new fatter ICs will fit through. This may actually involve "loosening up" a pinch type strain relief that fits into the TT bottom. A Dremel or round file will do the job for you.

John

 

[hakaplan]

IA = Integrated Amp... I have a number of Monster Cable RCA IC's in a drawer, would those be better than the stock cables from the turntable to the phono preamp or should I get some more blue jeans IC's for this... is it a retrofit I should have a shop do or is it pretty straight forward?

John and Carl summed it up nicely. The Monsters are probably not low capacitance unless they are specifically video cables, in which case they would be a pack of 3 (red, green, blue) or a single yellow.