Solid Silver RCA Phono Cables
For this recipe we will be using the Cryo Treated Vampire SL which is a shielded twin-axial interconnect cable with 22 AWG stranded, pure Silver conductors. The difference between this cable and a conventional RCA-RCA interconnect is that we have not connected the shield to either of the RCA's. Instead the shields are terminated with a drain wire to a spade, the spade is then connected to the ground lug on your phono preamp. When the shields are terminated in this manner the garbage they collect is not combined with the signal from your phono cartridge. This cable recipe will make a very quiet, fast, detailed phono cable with excellent LF extension and definition. This cable is designed to be used between tonearm and preamp.
After cutting your two pieces of Vampire SL to the length you require lay them side by side and make certain they are exactly the same length. The first step will be to trim 1/2" of jacket from the source end of the cables and remove the shield and damping material.
Next we will solder on our Cryo Treated Eichmann Bullet Plugs, one Red and one Black. We are using Johnson solder to make the connections.
When the Bullet Plugs are soldered, slide on the metal barrels from the opposite end, screw them on and tighten the grub screws.
Next we strip 1/2" of the outer jacket from the other end of the cables, being careful not to cut any strands of the braided shield. Carefully unbraid the shield down one side, a toothpick works well for this. Pull the braided shield over to the opposite side and twist it tightly together, then cut off the foil shield and damping material.
We will use Cardas 23.5 AWG hookup wire to connect to the shields. Cut your pieces 12" long, strip and tin about 1/4" of the end of each wire.
Now we will solder the drain wires to the shields, I used some solder wire to hold everything in place while soldering.
When the solder connection is made cover the joint with a short piece of CPX 100 1/4" (you may need to give it a stretch with a pair of needlenose pliers).
