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Gary L
06-22-2007, 03:40 PM
I need some help with a Turntable problem.

I have to lengthen the wires that connect it to the amp because of furniture placement.
New wires will need to be 9 feet long.

I have two tables and need to know if one or both will be OK with this.

TT 1 is Luxman PD 121 with SME 3009 TA and Denon MC cartridge and Denon Step Up.

TT 2 is Technics SL 1200MKll with Sure M97 X MM cartridge.

Right now I have a female to female connector with an additional set of interconnects to get to the amp. I also have some HUM and suspect the midway connection to be the culprit. Hum is more noticeable on the Lux/MC set up.

I have plenty of both black and red Canare Star Quad cable L-4E6S which has 4 leads plus shield and I will tie pairs of these leads together. When I make my own interconnects I use the shield on the source end tied to ground but not on the Amp end. Should I do the same when making TT wires?

I also have the Canare F-09 RCAs.

My major concern is in the length of 9 feet and if this will be a big drawback.

I am trying to keep the albums spinning while keeping the boss happy in HER living room.

Any assistance here will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Gary

SMKSoundPro
06-22-2007, 03:51 PM
Dear Gary,

9 feet of sigle-ended wire makes for a Great antenna!

Make up your rca-rca cables in the proper fashion. tip - tip with the center conductor, and shield to shield.

Remember that those rca extension cables passing by a TV, or ion ozone air cleaner, or some weird high voltage anything can be a source of unwanted noise.

I am sure someone else will chime in with some other ideas.

Good Luck.
Scott.

Gary L
06-22-2007, 05:31 PM
Thanks Scott but I am a bit confused now.

Here is the cable I am working with. Note it has two blue and two whites I tie together. It also has a braided shield.

I solder the white to the center pin and the blues to the housing along with the shield but only on the source end. The shield is not attached on the amp end per the instructions I received. Some sort of ground loop could occur.

Can you be a bit more specific?



Make up your rca-rca cables in the proper fashion. tip - tip with the center conductor, and shield to shield.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/Gamalot/Electronics/cable7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/Gamalot/Electronics/cable5.jpg

Here is the cable making instructions I got and don't understand the ballanced Vs un Ballanced part.

Star Quad is nice, because there are a lot of ways to use it. However, for unbalanced interconnects, the best way is to tie the two blue conductors together, and use them as the signal ground, then tie the two white conductors together, and use them as the signal. Then connect the shield to the signal ground at one end only (preventing a ground loop).

For balanced XLR connections, tie the shield to pin 1, the two whites to pin 2 (as the positive signal line) and the blues to pin 3 (as the negative signal line). Leave the connector chassis floating. In this balanced configuration, you can run low level signals hundreds of feet, along power cables, and still get a crystal clear output. I'd put it against any other cable for this configuation.

Noise rejection isn't so good with unbalanced interconnects, but star quad still helps. The double twisted pairs results in a cable with vanishingly low inductance and series resistance, though modestly high capacitance (compared to other cables). However, for an interconnect, I feel that low inductance is more important than low capacitance. The low inductance and full shield means it rejects RF and EM interference quite nicely. Being nearly silent around SCR type dimmers (a massive source of interference) is one of Star Quad's claims to fame.

Thanks again.

Gary

jim campbell
06-22-2007, 05:44 PM
ive never tried it but someone once said that wrapping the cable with that plastic wire protector stuff helps..........i dont know the trade name but any auto wiring or stereo install places use it....its kind of a ribbed black affair with a slit down the length to slip it over the cable

Don C
06-22-2007, 06:00 PM
I think that with cables that long, you might want to try putting a phono pre-amp at the turntable. I haven't tried this myself.

Gary L
06-22-2007, 06:21 PM
ive never tried it but someone once said that wrapping the cable with that plastic wire protector stuff helps..........i dont know the trade name but any auto wiring or stereo install places use it....its kind of a ribbed black affair with a slit down the length to slip it over the cable

LOL, I call it Esophogus tube but don't know if it will be of any help here.

As for the addition of a Phono pre amp, again I am not sure it is necessary. I think this Canare cable is much better quality than any that came on my TT considering the doubleing of wires and the added shielding. One good part of this move is I am avoiding going past or over the TV and other electronics that could cause some RF interferance.
I am also getting the table up and on to a solid base which is the foundation of my fire place harth.
Just finished building this for the move and will have LPs on the bottom 2 shelves and cleaning supplies under the table.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/Gamalot/Personal%20Pics/DSCN1723.jpg

Gary

Don C
06-22-2007, 09:17 PM
The stand looks great.