Recommendation for Phono to Pre RCA Cables

thsmith

I have Ben's silver between my CD/DAC and Adcom GFP-750 pre, Ben's silvers between my Phono stage and Adcom pre.

Between my Adcom pre and Carver TFM-45 amp I am using Alissa cables. Link to Alissa's below.

Before I got my Adcom Pre and Alissa cables I was using Ben's silvers on everything to the AVR and out to AMP. Nice warm sounds on CD/DAC and TT.

SInce getting the Adcom pre I find everything to be brighter. Add Alissa cables between Pre and AMP and I have the best sound out of my CD/DAC ever and love it. When I put the Alissa between DAC and Pre with Silvers between AMP and Pre it is not as bright and the base punch is there but I prefer the Alissa on the AMP and Pre.

The problem is my TT is still brighter that I would like.

Considering My TT setup I am looking for a recommendation for a cable between my Phono stage and Adcom Pre.

TT - Technics SL1300
Cart - Denon DL-160
Phono stage - Cambridge Audio 640P
IC between Phono stage and Adcom Pre - Ben's Silver.

Alissa Tweaks interconnects http://www.atcables.com/rcainterconnect.php
these are made by verastarr cables.
www.verastarr.com

I am consering Kimber Kable Silvers which use a silver and copper stranded conductor.

The Adcom Pre has made cable differences really noticeable now which in my mind makes for exploring the sound of many different cables.

hearingimpared

Tracy, are the cables completely burned in?

thsmith

hearingimpared wrote: »

Tracy, are the cables completely burned in?

yep, The Alissa's were bought here are CP and I have owned Ben's for several months.

george daniel

I usr the vpi "phono" cables between the phono pre and my pre amp,,fairly nuetral and quiet

thsmith

Thanks George.

DOn't anyone get me wrong, I love Ben's Silvers. That dang Adcom Pre is revealing for sure.

I just need to tone down my TT a bit.

hearingimpared

Silver cables tend to be on the bright side. I would recommend a turntable cable from a reputable manufacturer like MIT or Nordost (sp).

george daniel

hearingimpared wrote: »

Silver cables tend to be on the bright side. I would recommend a turntable cable from a reputable manufacturer like MIT or Nordist (sp).

Oh,, I,ve tried various cables on the phono pre--to--pre,,, Bens, MIT,,,Grover,, some just work better in that position than others,, YMMV

thsmith

george daniel wrote: »

I usr the vpi "phono" cables between the phono pre and my pre amp,,fairly nuetral and quiet

hearingimpared wrote: »

Silver cables tend to be on the bright side. I would recommend a turntable cable from a reputable manufacturer like MIT or Nordost (sp).

Can you guys point me to speific cables by these companies? I am not finding IC RCA Phono stage to Preamp cables.

Thanks,

thsmith

bump

hearingimpared

Tracy since you are going from phono pre to pre any good IC would work just fine. I use an MIT Shotgun S3 between my phono pre and preamp with excellent results.

thsmith

Thanks Hearing, I would love to have a pair of Mits, maybe I can find a good deal.

Face

I would consider these on the warm side: http://signalcable.com/analogtwo.html

When you email/call, tell him it's for a phono hook up, he can make it in a smaller gauge for you. Also, be sure to mention you're a Club Polk member for a discount.

hearingimpared

A set just sold here for under $260.

heiney9

MIT's are great if you're looking to spend that kind of coin.

The Nordost's are extremely bright because I believe their entire line are silver. I would stay away from silver I/C's and speaker cables, just my opinion but I've tried several Silver cables (inclduing Ben's) and MIT's are my cable of choice.

For more budget oriented I'd say Signal Analog II's are very good. Stay away from the Silver.

H9

thsmith

Thanks H9, I did order a pair of Signal Analog II's and am keeping my eyes open for some Mits Shotgun S3s used.

heiney9

thsmith wrote: »

Thanks H9, I did order a pair of Signal Analog II's and am keeping my eyes open for some Mits Shotgun S3s used.

Terminator 2's are great as well. I want to upgrade to S3's but I'd like to try a pair first since that's some serious coin for 2 pr/ of S3's.

Synergy is such a ****. I am so happy with everything I'm running right now that I'm not going to 'eff with it right now.

I am thinking about getting a more inexpensive tube pre and running it thru the HT bypass on my 750 so I can run passive or active SS or the tube pre.

Still working on that project however.

H9

thsmith

I hear you. The Adcom 750 has made such a huge difference I can not believe it. The sound for CDs is just amazing. What is interesting is I can crank the volume past what I could with the AVR. At these levels the polyswitches would trip but so far has not happened since going to this very sweet Adcom Pre.

I just need to find this level of satisafaction with the TT.

With the AVR in the mix the TT sounded better than CD but now it is the other way around and I know cables will fix that issue.

Something else, When I ran the Alissa cables from AVR to AMP I was not to happy with the sound. Now with same cable but Pre instead of AVR I am blown away.

jm1

heiney9 wrote: »

The Nordost's are extremely bright because I believe their entire line are silver.

Nordost does not make solid silver cables. They are silver clad copper.

I have heard cables from the Norse series all the way to Odin. They are not extremely bright or even a touch bright. They simply allow you to hear your system components as they truly sound.

My two channel system is wired with Frey (including tonearm cable) in all but one spot. This was a significant improvement over other cables. One day I will replace the remaining 4M IC with a Nordost cable.

I have no experience below the Norse series. I believe some of the older series were considered bright. In terms of their current offering, the above statement can not be made of Nordost cables.

heiney9

jm1 wrote: »

the above statement can not be made of Nordost cables.

Actually it can be made................because it's my opinion as your statement is your opinion.

I believe I made it clear I was stating my opinion............if not, then I'm making it clear right now. I'm sure for some people, with some gear they work wonderfully.........they didn;t for me.

As always YMMV

H9

thsmith

heiney9 wrote: »

Terminator 2's are great as well. I want to upgrade to S3's but I'd like to try a pair first since that's some serious coin for 2 pr/ of S3's.

Synergy is such a ****. I am so happy with everything I'm running right now that I'm not going to 'eff with it right now.

I am thinking about getting a more inexpensive tube pre and running it thru the HT bypass on my 750 so I can run passive or active SS or the tube pre.

Still working on that project however.

H9

H9, these like a good deal for new and the seller has a great rating.

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?cablintr&1251126808

leroyjr1

Joe is known and trusted throughout the polk forum.

hearingimpared

I purchased my MITs from Joe Abrams, he is the best.

thsmith

What does this mean and how do you know what to set it too.

"Switchable impedance-matching so it can be optimized to match any electronics"

hearingimpared

thsmith wrote: »

What does this mean and how do you know what to set it too.

"Switchable impedance-matching so it can be optimized to match any electronics"

You can switch the impedance from low, medium or high on the target end depening on the input imedance.

thsmith

hearingimpared wrote: »

You can switch the impedance from low, medium or high on the target end depening on the input imedance.

I just ordered a pair of the S3 Mits Shotgun from Joe.

Is the setting just something you try various settings or is there science based upon your TT, Cart, Phono Stage, Preamp, AMP or Speakers?

hearingimpared

thsmith wrote: »

I just ordered a pair of the S3 Mits Shotgun from Joe.

Is the setting just something you try various settings or is there science based upon your TT, Cart, Phono Stage, Preamp, AMP or Speakers?

Look up the imput impedance on your preamp where you plan to plug the S3s. Then check the low, medium and high impedance switches and switch it to the one that matches the input impedance of your pre. This is usually the perfect setting but experimenting wouldn't hurt.

thsmith

Ok, looks like for unbalanced input on the Adcom GFP-750 is 47kohms.

Thanks H9

heiney9

thsmith wrote: »

H9, these like a good deal for new and the seller has a great rating.

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?cablintr&1251126808

Yeah, I saw those but they were snapped up immediately probably. Great price even from Joe A.

H9

thsmith

heiney9 wrote: »

Yeah, I saw those but they were snapped up immediately probably. Great price even from Joe A.

H9

Well, I got one pair of them and I think Freak got the other pair. I am pumped !

I started this journey a year ago last April and I can not believe how much I have learned and how great my system is sounding but it has not been cheap. It has been a lot fun and worth wild trip so far.

That damn Adcom has been such an improvement I guess I am becoming a fanboy.

heiney9

thsmith wrote: »

That damn Adcom has been such an improvement I guess I am becoming a fanboy.

I'm the first one to criticize if something isn't up to snuff.............but the 750still continues to blow me away. Mated to the Aleph with MIT's and my SDA 1C's it's almost unreal how good music sounds.

The other stunner has been the Dared MP-5, 15 wpc hybrid tube integrated I use in my office system. With my modded 5B's it sounds stunning. I shake my head everytime I power up that rig............given how modest all the components are there is now way it should sound as good as it does. Feed it a good set of tubes and it's simply amazing!

H9

thsmith

Well you H9 and Hearingimpared are 2 I listen hard to what you have to say and I have not been disappointed.