Do You Really Need an Expensive Long Phono Cable for Your Turntable?

Many vinyl lovers—especially those who aren’t full-on audiophiles—just want their old records to sound good without jumping through hoops or spending a fortune. One common dilemma? Connecting a turntable to a receiver that’s more than 10 feet away.

Let’s say you’ve got your turntable set up across the room from your AV receiver—about 13 feet of distance between them. Most phono cables, especially those that include the necessary ground wire, top out around 10 feet. Start searching for a 15-foot phono cables, and suddenly you’re looking at price tags north of $100.

That’s when a budget-friendly option pops up: a 15-foot RCA stereo cable with a built-in ground wire for less than $20. But it’s marketed for car audio. Is it safe? Will it work without introducing hum or degrading sound quality? Do you really need an expensive long phono cable for your turntable? Let’s discuss!

The Short Answer: Go for the Cheaper Cable

Let’s not beat around the bush here. As long as the cable has the correct connections—RCA left and right plugs, and a separate ground wire—you’re good. There’s nothing special about “phono” cables that makes them magically better unless we’re talking exceptionally long cable runs – over 100′. In most home setups, especially when you’re not dealing with a highly sensitive, low-output moving coil cartridge or a mega-bucks audio system, you can absolutely use a budget-friendly RCA cable with a ground wire. And let’s face it, if you have one of those systems, your turntable is front and center, and you want to have super expensive phono AND speaker cables for…reasons!

Oh, and say you can’t get a RCA with a ground wire in the length you need? No issues. You can make your own ground wire with spade ends for a couple of bucks. Just like the RCA cable, there is nothing magical about a ground wire. The length, unless it’s exceptionally long (over 100′), won’t matter. So find a pair of RCA cables in the length you need, and make your own ground.

Here’s Why You Don’t Need to Spend $120+

Aside from it being expensive, there are lots of reasons that you don’t need to spend extra money on “premium” phono cables, or long run phono cables. Here’s why!

The Signal Is Low, but Not Fragile

Turntables output a relatively low voltage signal, but it’s not so fragile that a decent-quality RCA cable will ruin it. As long as the cable is shielded and the ground connection is intact, it’ll do the job just fine over 13 feet.

I have a pair of 30′ RCA cables in my walls to connect my subwoofers. There has never been an issue with the signal reaching my subwoofers. I also have 15′ RCA cables that I have used to connect an analogue device to my rack, and I have never had an issue with the signal not getting there, or being too low. When we are dealing with audio signals, 15′ is not considered long.

Ground Wire Matters More Than Cable Price

The ground wire helps eliminate the hum that often plagues turntable setups. If your $13 cable includes a ground wire that can reach your receiver’s phono ground terminal, you’re already ahead of the game. And as I said, you can make your own, and it won’t cost you a ton.

Plus, if you are using a phono preamp, most of the time you ground it to the receiver as well, which eliminates some ground noise right at the source. I have been using turntables for over 30 years, and I have only had to ground one turntable to deal with hum.

Most Noise Comes from Bad Connections, Not Cable Length

Hiss, hum, or buzz is more likely to come from a loose connector, bad grounding, or electromagnetic interference than from the extra 3 feet of cable. A well-shielded RCA cable—even an affordable one—can avoid those issues.

If you don’t disconnect and reconnect your cables a lot, the connection will remain strong and tight. I personally use the Monoprice Onix Series RCA cables that feature a screw down connector that tightens the connector and keeps it snug.

Car Audio vs. Home Audio Doesn’t Matter Here

RCA cables for car audio use the same basic construction as those for home audio. The labeling is mostly about marketing. What matters is build quality, not where the cable is intended to be used.

I know that it will shock many of you that audiophiles would promote a product that costs a lot and doesn’t perform any differently from the cheaper variant. Calm yourself and keep going. The shock will fade, I promise.

A Few Tips for Success

Keep it away from power cables: Running your phono cable parallel to electrical cords can introduce noise. If possible, cross them at right angles or keep them separated. This is more important when you are running cables in the wall. When I ran my subwoofer RCA cables in the wall, I made sure to get in-wall rated, shielded RCA cables, and ran them in a conduit about 3′ away from my power cables.

Tighten the ground screw: Connect the cable’s ground wire securely to your receiver’s grounding post to prevent hum. Just like the RCA connections, if you have a loose connection to the ground on either end, it can introduce hum.

Check your turntable’s output: Make sure you’re plugging into a phono input on the receiver. If you don’t have one, or your receiver’s phono output is too low, it’s time to add a phono preamp.

Our Take

Not everything in audio has to be expensive. In this case, a $13 cable will do the trick just fine. No need to overthink it or break the bank—just plug it in, ground it properly, and enjoy your records. So, do you really need an expensive long phono cable for your turntable? I think we see the answer is a resounding, no!

Vinyl should be fun and accessible. And sometimes, the simplest (and cheapest) solution really is the best one.