Best interconnects

[JoelSim]

What would you recommend for a Clearaudio Emotion to phono stage and from phono stage to amp?

Ideally looking at up to £100 per set, only need 0.5m for each.

 

[chebby]

Pretty short (1m or less) connection to phono stage (Chord Cobra 3 maybe?) as the signal from the cartridge is pretty puny at this point.

From phono-stage to the amp I use Chord Crimson. The signal is now amplified to 'line level' so a longer length will be fine. (I use 3.5 metres of Chord Crimson.)

[Edit] Just seen your budget. May as well make it Chord Cobra 3 all the way.

 

[John Duncan]

JoelSim:
What would you recommend for a Clearaudio Emotion to phono stage and from phono stage to amp?

Ideally looking at up to £100 per set, only need 0.5m for each.

Second hand Chord Chorus - I got mine for 80 quid for 0.5m

Although reading again - does that mean 50 quid a pair or 100 quid a pair (so 200 for the lot?)

 

[chebby]

I assumed £100 the lot.

Chord Cobra 3, £44.90 for a 0.5 metre pair (free postage)...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Chord-Company-Cobra-3-Interconnect-0-5-Metre-Pair_W0QQitemZ260319058419QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL?hash=item260319058419&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1300|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

So £89.80 total.

 

[JoelSim]

Is the Chorus significantly better than the Crimson?

 

[John Duncan]

Well I haven't tried the Crimson, but you'd think so, at 200+ quid new for the Chorus.

Anyway, still say you should get the Arcam inbuilt phono stage, so that you only need one pair...

 

[chebby]

The price difference (for 2 x 0.5metre pairs) between Crimson and Chorus works out to most of the price of a Trichord Dino phono-stage!

 

[John Duncan]

New, yes, s/h, no - but only if he has 160 quid, and not 100 quid (depending on how you read it)

 

[chebby]

Given the really short lengths involved, I would always favour spending more on cartridge/phonostage and worry about finer cables later. (Not as if Crimson or Cobra is bad stuff, far from it.)

If we were talking about something like a £3K deck with a £1K cartridge then £350 on cable would be appropriate but at the level of a sub £1k TT package I think more quality gains are to be had from putting that sort of money into the cartridge and/or phono stage.

 

[JoelSim]

Arcam haven't come back to me yet about the phono stage but I've managed to do a deal for a new Clearaudio nano for £150 should I need it

 

[chebby]

JoelSim:Arcam haven't come back to me yet about the phono stage but I've managed to do a deal for a new Clearaudio nano for £150 should I need it

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/clearaudio4/nano.html

Bit of a tight squeeze and I don't fancy the loading resistors hanging out the bottom like that!...

 

[DistortedVision]

I'd get the Clearaudio Nano - it will sound better than the Arcam phonostage upgrade. I had one in my A85 but upgraded to a Trichord Dino.

 

[DistortedVision]

Yeah I thought that looked strange too especially from a manufacturer like Clearaudio. But according to that review they aren't included anymore:

"Completeness of delivery: Nanos manufactured prior to August 18th 2008 will not have loading resistors included in the box (email your country's distributor for a set)."

chebby:JoelSim:Arcam haven't come back to me yet about the phono stage but I've managed to do a deal for a new Clearaudio nano for £150 should I need it http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/clearaudio4/nano.html Bit of a tight squeeze and I don't fancy the loading resistors hanging out the bottom like that!...

 

[JoelSim]

Does the earth go from the nano to the TT? Is that the middle fitting in the pictures?

 

[matengawhat]

i'd guess the middle ones the mains

 

[JoelSim]

Oh yes. The mains.

 

[JoelSim]

The Arcam phono board is £110 fitted. Clearaudio nano is £150 plus an extra set of interconnects. Is it worth paying for the phono stage?

 

[matengawhat]

i never liked phono stages with those stupid little plastic jumpers - my old project one had them and one was lose and kept falling out!

Why not look for one of the MF XLPS on ebay - i used to have one and thought it was great. sold my last one for just under £100 from memory

 

[JoelSim]

matengawhat:i never liked phono stages with those stupid little plastic jumpers - my old project one had them and one was lose and kept falling out! Why not look for one of the MF XLPS on ebay - i used to have one and thought it was great. sold my last one for just under £100 from memory

What are those stupid little plastic jumpers?

 

[matengawhat]

if its the same as the project i had the little black bits in the picture are a half cm bit of plasitc that acts as a connecter between two spikes to alter the settings on the unit between mm/mc ect and i just don't like them

 

[John Duncan]

JoelSim:The Arcam phono board is £110 fitted. Clearaudio nano is £150 plus an extra set of interconnects. Is it worth paying for the phono stage?

I'd get the Arcam. Is a good board, and solves your interconnect and space issues.

 

[JoelSim]

Funny thing is, if I remove the Arc and take it to the shop, my missus will enquire. If I buy the nano then I can just tell her it comes with the TT and she'll not know any different.

 

[John Duncan]

Then buy the Arc, take the cover off, push in the phono board (like memory in a computer)

 

[chebby]

Tell her the Arcam is broken and it is going to the dealer for a free repair or a dealer only 'firmware update' or something. So long as the same box comes home then no problem. The extra card is invisible.

Besides, how on earth are you going to hide an entire Clearaudio turntable?!! (They got some nifty TT 'cloaking device' or something?)

 

[the record spot]

Just got the Audioquest Copperhead to go between my amp and CD player and it's a fine cable for taming overly bright systems. £60 new, good bass weight, but not at the expense of detail. Worth considering.