Replacement phono cable for Thorens TD125 MKii

[Muji]

Hi guys. Quick question.

I've got a Thorens TD125 MKii is very very good condition. Using the original arm, it's running an Ortofon 2M blue.

When I had it serviced, my technician installed female RCS plugs inside, so the RCA cable from the table to the phono preamp can be changed as required. Currently its using a pretty basic cable. (Strangely, I've been plagued by a constant hum since the mod, one that changes with the volume, but I'm pegging that down to the wires in the arm or a botch somewhere else, am I wrong?)

I'm considering an Audioquest Evergreen from the TT to the phono.

However, many people have advised that this needs to be a very special low capacitance 'phono' cable, while others have said as long as it's a nice well shielded cable I should be fine.

So without getting into the merits and demerits of cable upgrades, what's the verdict?

 

[Blue Shadow]

The arm, subchassis and chassis as well as the cartridge (right channel) all ground through that right channel RCA outer connection. Verify that all are there.

 

[bang4buck]

^What they said, and welcome to the forum.

About the cable, in general that was good advice about watching the capacitance. Assuming it's not a very long run to your preamp, your current cartridge is probably fine with regular cable. Ortofon specifies 150 to 300 pF for the 2M. This is for the total, i.e. internal wires to the connection point, your cable, plus the input capacitance of your preamp. Look up the specs for your unit but often the input capacitance is around 100 pF and a short run of cable could easily add another 100. Still fine for your Ortofon but with an AT, you would already be at the upper limit. Grados, on the other hand, don't care much about capacitance. This is why on any half-serious preamp, the input capacitance is switchable.