The
tonearm cable started as a project to build a 'correct' tonearm cable design
for modern high-performance MC cartridges, as none in the market offers all the
right ingredients that support the Extremephono philosophy for correct music
reproduction. The
problems with conventional designs are their mistakes in focusing the priority
on 'protection', but Extremphono tonearm cable's primary goal is that of
'preservation'.
High-end
MC cartridges have output as low as 0.1mV, and a coil impedance of 10 to 30 Ohm.
At this level, based on a typical S/N ratio of 60dB, the essential music
information is carried by voltages as low as 0.0000001V.
The
Extremphono tonearm cable features:
Light
weight construction - The lightweight construction will not upset a turntable/tonearm
compliance. Conventional design
tonearm cable's unnecessary mass acts as a mechanical capacitor, i.e. a 'sponge'
that absorbs then releases the mechanical energy over time.
The more weight, the bigger the 'sponge'.
Maintaining a lightweight cable construction retains minimal energy, so
not to smear the transient and reduce the rhythmic quality of the music
reproduction.
Very fine conductors - using very fine silver thread, horrible to work with, but is the only way to maintain the integrity of the signal by reducing the self-induced noise. A custom version using 50-50 alloy made of gold and silver is available - the best conductor for phono application, 50-50 gold/silver alloy can be made extremely thin and flexible, even finer than the silver conductors.
Porous
Teflon dielectric - expensive but more effective the solid Teflon dielectric and is the
best, practical dielectric solution.
Faraday
Cage shielding
- Using Faraday cage, the shielding is effectively isolated from the signal
carrying leads, so that signals are not 'damped' by the proximity from the
shielding.
Characteristic
impedance optimized for MC cartridges - Conventional tonearm cable design did not address
the fact that MC cartridge is a current-generating motor, and the energy
transfer between cartridge and phono stage must be optimized by an interconnect
with matching characteristic impedance. Extremephono
tonearm cable is the only cable known to maintain approximately 100 ohm
characteristic impedance suitable for high-performance MC cartridge.
(* see Notes on cartridge loading.)
Stress-relieving
process -
the tonearm cable is treated with a unique metallurgical process to remove
mechanical stress built up during wire construction. It is not known at this time other audio cables utilize this
process. (Extremephono offers
optional Stress-relieving treatment for internal tonearm wiring)
Unique custom connectors - The connectors on Extremephono tonearm cable look "cheesy". They are 'cheesy' for a purpose. The right-angle DIN is reworked to be light and rigid, and the RCA's are specially made with silver conductor
User-friendly, flexible design adapts to all turntable/tonearm systems - Owners of Linn LP12 can use the Extremephono tonearm cable in the Linn with a perfect fit.
The Standard (SJIS901) |
The Reference (RJIS901) |
The Limited Edition (GJIS901) |
*click on any of the above pictures to enlarge details.
Users' comments :
Stereotimes.com review of the Limited Edition tonearm cable.
"I have just replaced my Linn cable with the silver interconnect from Extreme Phono. Wow, what an improvement, the original that came with the turntable was a really nasty, cheap piece of work. Casey at Extreme custom makes his cable to fit the LP12 & therefore I encountered no problems when I installed the new cable. I was so impressed with Casey's apparent understanding of the LP12's design limitations that I went ahead & replaced the original sub-chassis & armboard with their his carbon fibre parts. I also dumped the Akito arm & replaced it with an SME Model 10. The sonic performance is was amazing! Moral of the story, don't always listen to the Linn dealers, they have square Earth thinking as far as tampering with the deck is concerned"
"Well...there is no comparison. This is hands down the best music reproduction
I've ever achieved at home. Every single aspect of the musical presentation
improved in spades, solidly trouncing my previous analog set up and my Muse Model
9 signature. Soundstaging, air, bass articulation and depth, top to bottom tonal
"integrity", retrieval of detail, micro and macro dynamics, and last
(but not least) PRAT were all at a new plateau. What is utterly scary is that
the tonearm cable is still a good 30 hours away from break-in..so this can only
get better.
Casey's cable is EXTREMELY well constructed (finish is MUCH better than the
Graham IC-30 I owned briefly) with maniacal attention to detail. Like in the
Hovland cables, Casey uses very low mass RCA's, though his are made entirely of
silver. My only quibble is that my Linto's RCA jacks are a bit too short/thin to
provide good ground contact, but this was easily remedied by tightening
(slightly deforming) the RCA plus. I will be posting further impressions as the
cable burns in, but the investment (to my ears) thus far appears VERY worthwhile
(especially considering that my loss if I tried to sell my LP12 and purchase a
more "modern" table would far exceed the cost of the mods)"
Ordering
Extremephono is confident that the Extremephono tonearm cable has no equal. It is the best designed and engineered tonearm cable regardless of price. If you are currently auditioning tonearm cable, don't settle for lesser cable.
To order, please contact Extremephono. All of the higher-end cable (except Crimson) are custom build to order.
Money back guarantee - Regardless of any reason, within 30-day, return the item in its original condition for a full-refund.
Part
Number |
Description |
SJIS901 |
The
Standard - Pure silver multistrand fine conductors, Teflon
dielectric. 90-degree DIN for Linn, SME, Graham tonearm. |
SJISST1 |
The
Standard with straight DIN for most Japanese tonearm. |
SRCA1 |
The
Standard with RCA-RCA for turntable system with only RCA output jacks |
RJIS901 |
The
Reference - Extremephono's statement tonearm cable.
Very fine 0.003" diameter single-strand high purity
silver conductor, porous Teflon diecltric provide unprecedented
details and refinements. 90-degree
DIN for Linn, SME, Graham. |
RJISST1 |
The
Reference with straight DIN for most Japanese tonearm. |
RRCA1 |
The
Reference with RCA-RCA for turntable system with only RCA output jacks |
GJIS901 |
The
Limited Edition - Exhaustively difficult to make using the best and
exorbitantly expensive proprietary mix of 'extreme' finer than human hair Gold/Silver alloy
conductors with porous Teflon. All
the unprecedented details and refinements like the Reference, but the LE
adds extra bloom and finesse to the music playback. Recommended for the finest analog setup only.
90-degree DIN for Linn, SME, Graham tonearm. |
GJISST1 |
The
L.E. with straight DIN for most Japanese tonearm. |
GRCA1 |
The L.E. with RCA-RCA for turntable system with only RCA output jacks. |