Yannis Tome Analogue Cables



Tonearm Cable for Grace tonearms (models that require a male 5 pin connector i.e.707/714/860/940/960/565/545
Canare Mini StarQuad 4 x 26AWG - 1.2 metres

male 5-pin tonearm connector - RCA








This Canare is a premium shielded starquad cable. The cable consists of four 26 AWG annealed copper conductors with Cross Linked PE Insulation and a braided copper shield. This is the slim version of the Canare starquad with 4.8mm overall diameter. It is extremely flexible, using fine stranded high conductivity copper cores and specially formulated PVC compounds that combine to make a soft yet strong and durable outer jacket with excellent flexibility. Handling noise is minimized by the use of cotton fillers. The irradiated polyethylene core insulation provides a low capacitance dielectric. This cable effectively rejects EMI and RFI thanks to its dense braided shield. Canare does not use spiral (serve) shields to prevent spreading apart with use. The braided shield of this cable is more difficult to manufacture because it uses many thin copper strands in a densely woven braid but it results to a very flexible construction with outstanding noise rejection

Our star-quad tonearm cables are professionally finished, running through a continuous length of conductors. We construct the cable in such a way that we maintain full, continuous shielding throughout its length (from the tonearm connector to the RCAs), while keeping the ground and interference paths entirely isolated from the signal conductors enhancing the detail and maintaining a quite background.

This tonearm cable is suitable for all Grace tonearms that have a corresponding female socket (i.e. 707/714/860/940/960/565/545).

The tonearm connector is made of gold plated brass pins, Teflon insulation and a lightweight aluminium housing. This type of male 5pin connector interface is the nearest matching alternative to the original Grace connector which is not produced any longer. We pre-fit each cable to an original Grace socket in order to adjust its pins and ensure perfect match for its pins before posting it.

The RCAs used on this cable are the Neutrik Rean NYS373 connectors. These connectors have a slim profile and feature rubber boots for strain relief. Neutrik have made a significant improvement on these connectors over the past couple of years that may not be too obvious. The ground contacts (sleeve of the connector) have adopted a very effective profile that minimises the contact resistance by adjusting to the small tolerance variations of the RCA sockets. The thinner “ground plates” facing inwards, deliver a spring like effect to ensure that they neither cause wear to the socket nor have a loose fit. Although these Neutrik Rean RCAs are basic connectors, they have become an industry standard and we strongly believe that in this price range they cannot be matched by other alternatives. Of course, if one wishes to further invest in this area, there are RCA connectors of higher specifications, but these are offered at significantly higher prices.





The cable is not only sonically excellent. It will also impress with its professional construction.

The quality of our work on star-quad cables is second to none. Not only we have the expertise create such a product in very high standards but we also maintain a large stock of various types and grades of shields, inner insulating materials and PVC or silicone compounds for the outer jackets jackets that allow us construct and finish our cables using the most appropriate options for each design..

It is important to explain that we do not use our quad cables in the traditional pairing mode that most often applies to mic cable assemblies and aims at the further reduction of noise in larger lengths but inevitably results to quite high levels of capacitance. With appropriate wiring configuration Quad cables offer the unique advantage of isolating all paths (send, return/ground and screening) from each other for the entire length of the cable and keep the overall cable capacitance at minimum levels while preserving a dual mono structure within a common enclosure screen.

At the same time such a wiring method in the use of quad cables requires extensive customization of the cable in order to maintain a continuous shielding from one end to the other. Hence these cable assemblies are not simply a matter of fitting plugs on a bulk, off the reel cable; they are products of extensive work that requires the use of various materials and expertise in order to lead to a successful result both in terms of its performance and build quality.

The tails of these starquad cables have been reworked using the same techniques and materials that we use on our top line, handmade cables. The insulating materials and the screens we use on these reconstructed portions exceed by far the standards of the original assembly. At the same time the finish of the cable is outstanding ensuring both durability and flexibility but it also maintains a very appealing overall profile.

We hope that it is clear that the labour, materials and expertise we apply on these cables are by far beyond what one would expect from a budget cable of this price. However, we have decided to offer such cables at wholesale prices directly to private customers instead of charging retail markups.

 

Here is how we re-construct our Canare cables' tails into shielded twisted pairs:


https://custom.cabledesigns.co.uk/assets/images/db_images/db_tails15.jpg


All cables are made on order and we are happy to offer bespoke service. We can produce these cables, at any length and according to your own specifications for various tonearms and phono amplifiers, so feel free to get in touch for more details and a quote.
For more custom phono cables by Canare, Mogami and Van Damme as well as our handmade pure silver phono cables please have a look at our other listings.

POSTAGE:

Our cables are produced and dispatched form our workshop in Wales, UK

All of our cables are made on order so please allow 2-3 working days production time for your order to be dispatched.

Delivery within the United Kingdom

Postage within the UK is by Royal MailTracked 48" and delivery normally takes 2 working days after the item is dispatched

Delivery for orders outside the United Kingdom:

For all of our International orders we use a Royal Mail "recorded service". To most destinations Royal Mail International Signed packet is used. For some destinations where this service is not available, Royal Mail International Tracked packet is used instead.

Delivery within Europe is usually 4-7 working days and delivery to the rest of the world is 6-12 working days. Please note that the above delivery times are only estimates and the actual times of delivery depend on the carrier / delivery partner at the destination country

"International Signed For" & "International Tracked" packets are recorded and a packet registration/tracking number will be available after dispatch.

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions regarding postage.
Our cables are packed in a simple but secure way to make sure that they will reach you undamaged, without unnecessary frills that would add up to the price.

We offer a 30-day return policy. So if you are not entirely happy with your cable you are welcome to return it for a different cable or for a full refund.

COMMUNICATION:

If you have any questions regarding your order, you can either leave a message at the checkout or you can send us a separate message via ebay.

We will respond to all enquiries in 1-2 days. In many occasions we will respond within a few hours but this depends on the volume of the enquiries we receive in a given day. We adverstise and sell many of the listed cables, as well as more of our cable designs outside ebay. But please note that due to Ebay policies we are unable to discuss purchases of products other than those that are listed in our Ebay shop

ABOUT US

We are a small family business and we design and produce analogue audio cables. All of our products are produced in our workshop in Wales and they are sold directly through our website and our ebay shop. Our products can be separated in two main categories: “custom made cables” and “handmade cables”. We use the term “custom made” to describe our work on branded, “off the reel” cables by Canare, Van Damme, Mogami, Belden etc. On the other hand our “handmade cables” are designed and handcrafted by ourselves using entirely raw materials.

OUR CUSTOM MADE CABLES

Good quality audio cables do not have to be very expensive or made of exotic materials. A good performing analogue audio cable is primarily defined by its electrical parameters and by how these parameters are matched with the interconnected components. Such cables can and should be available at affordable selling prices. Most of the products we sell through our ebay shop aim at customers who want to achieve a very good level of performance in their audio system without spending a fortune on their wiring.

We are a workshop that produces at very small numbers and we have no intention to mystify our work, re-brand the cables we use or adopt marketing strategies for the sake of charging high selling prices. Unlike what many customers think, the price of a cable gives no indication of its performance or quality. It is the result of market processes that has very little to do with the actual performance of the product. We try to keep things very simple and straightforward. We produce and we sell directly to the end user/private customer. The price we charge for each of our cables is a direct reflection of the cost of materials, labour and any other service charges we have to pay for (i.e. ebay, paypal etc). It is not based on any claims for superior performance. This also means that we are unable to offer further discounts on our products.

You will notice that we offer a wide range of phono / tonearm cables. Regardless one's views on audio cables and their impact on the sonic performance of a system, phono cables (i.e. cables that form the path between the cartridge and the phono pre-amp) can result to a world of difference (for the better or the worse). Hence our dedication in offering a large selection of products that can meet the requirements of most customers.

Several aspects that matter on an audio cable are regularly either overemphasized or entirely ignored by the relevant literature leading to false impressions on what matters and what doesn't while also shaping the expected value for money perception of a customer. We select our materials and use certain procedures based on actual knowledge and not on abstract claims. We are more than happy to give our honest opinion on certain products.

All of the cables we offer - regardless their price-range – meet certain standards that ensure optimal performance. All the parameters that are crucial for the accurate, low loss transfer of the low level signal have been taken into account. Proper EMI/RFI screening throughout the entire length of the cable, low capacitance, appropriate dielectrics, conductor quality, flexibility and anything that may affect aspects of the cable performance have been addressed and considered carefully before choosing which cables we use for this application.

Our cables are fully shielded from the one end to the other. With any cables that require extensive modification, we take a considerable amount of time to re-insulate and re-shield the signal conductors with dense, high coverage copper braids. We do not leave any part of the conductors exposed to EMI and RFI by simply covering them in heatshrink, nor we use inferior foil tapes to claim 100% shielding. Our work meets the highest standards and our cables are not to be compared with low cost inadequately customized alternatives.

In their majority our phono cable assemblies have a symmetrical structure and their shielding is used as a full-floating Faraday Cage connected only to the external ground whenever this is possible (i.e. in a similar way to the metal enclosures of your audio components). This means that we take full advantage of the balanced geometry of the cables we use and entirely isolate the EMI/RFI path from both “send” and “return” signal conductors. The benefit of such an approach is better resolution, quieter background and lower levels of capacitance. Please feel free to enquire about the possibility of alternative shield and ground arrangements.

So if you have any specific requirements, please do contact us in advance and we will do our best to help. Note that most customisations will affect the price of the cable depending on the cost of the necessary parts.

Y. Tomé Handmade Analogue Audio Cables

In addition to the “custom made cables” mentioned above we produce a very large range of entirely handcrafted Phono and Line level interconnect cables. These are cables that we have designed ourselves and we handcraft in our workshop in Wales using raw materials. Actually, our handmade cables are what we are mos known for. Most of these cables are designed and produced at very high specifications and their prices can be a lot higher than the custom made cables that we offer via our Ebay shop. Some of our less expensive handmade cables like the “Silvercord” are listed in our ebay shop. However, in their majority these cables are only available to purchase directly from us and we do not sell the through Ebay. For more of our analogue audio cable projects feel free to visit our websites.

Many thanks for visiting our listing

Y.Tomé Analogue Audio Cable Designs

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions regarding these cables