Phono cables are a huge problem. The audiophile community is part of it by going along with the lie. The vast majority of tonearms are terminated in RCA phono plugs, A great pair of interconnects that are well shielded work superbly. If cables work well as interconnects, they will perform well as phono cables, too. I recently auditioned a $3000 pair of phono cables from a top manufacturer and refused to review them,,,why?...they hummed with every cartridge I tried. Meanwhile, a meter of van den hul THE ROCK at $600 is a killer phono cable and silent as death. I use it in my system with state of the art cartridges. I like the Kubala Sosna Emotion cable at $3000 per meter and the Jorma Origo at $5000 per meter, too. If you have a favorite interconnect, try it. There is no wrong choice except unshielded cables. The least reliable and least detailed interconnects are most often cables labelled "phono."

Robert

Thank you for your clear and concise response. You continue to be one of the bright lights for those of us seeking truth without having to wade through many of the dubious claims made by many in the audiophile world.

Since you mentioned phonocables.....any recommendations in the circa $1k per pair for Phono cables. I use (venom interconnects) and am a big fan of Shunyata because of their scientific, evidence based approach. However I am also open to trying other quality cables if they have been tested and certified by someone like yourself.

Thanks Again

The Kiseki likes to be maximized...just like all cartridges I know of. You will max out its performance to a degree equaled by the likes of the $45,000 Pass Phonostage. Also, the Zesto output is lower distortion and more dynamic than most phonostages...even tube stages. Everything now sounds more real. Only negative is you need two top phonocables versus one.

Thanks again for another easily understood and thorough review. You always deliver the goods and we are the beneficiaries. I do have one question of course; I have a Kisiki Purple Heart and I recently purchased the Sutherland Duo Phono amplifer which is wonderful. So here is my question, in this scenario would I still benefit from the addition of a SUT and if so why? Is the idea to minimize the amplification required of the the Phono amplifer and let the SUT take on some of that burden?

Thanks

Jerry