Long Phono Cables Question

[Howard Schneck]

I have a question about using long phono cables with my Rotel Rx-1052 receiver. My receiver is on one floor and my turntable and good speakers on another floor. I control via a remote IR Receiver. I have a 50 ft shielded audio cable between the Rx-1052 and turntable.

Besides a possibly lower signal, will the sound from my turntable be affected much by the lenght of the cables? Would using a Rotel Phono Pre-amp (or other) with the 50 ft cables help this?

I seem to detect the music being flatter and not as bright as it was when it was hooked up directly to the receiver.

Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

Howard Schneck

[DrJRapp]

The signal loss isn't linear. You loose more off the top than from the mids and lows. Using a phono preamp to boost voltages certainly will help.

[Aussie Geoff]

I agree with Jery,

Long RCA line level cables tend to have high capacitances and higher than normal resistance and inductances... The net effect is to roll off / and (sometimes) slightly smear the high frequencies...

A good line level phone pre-amp right next to the turntable would help both boos the line signat from the typical 1 or 2 mV level of the phone cartridge to 1V...

A better quality (especially low capacitance) cable would also help...

Geoff

[Howard Schneck]

Thank you both for your help. I think I'll invest in a pre-amp.