Looking For 90% of the performane of the super expensive cables for much less money

@akg_ca 

The OP's goal might well be unrealistic but I've read your "...you get what you [pay] for......full stop" comment once too often.  I disagree.  Value doesn't follow price in lockstep.  There are exceptional, high value to price audio products out there.  There isn't a single price to value curve that applies to all components of a given type.  While I absolutely believe you can pay too little and regret it, it is also possible to overpay for what you get.  Would that pricing were always based on R&D, high quality materials, labor and a reasonable profit margin.  Advertising adds little value for me as the end user, but these do have to be recovered in the price.  Some manufacturers build brand equity into their pricing formulas.  Let's not even discuss the cynical (few) that use high price as a product differentiator and marketing tool.  

I built my own out of solid silver cables with silver plated XLR connectors and never looked back. 

https://www.partsconnexion.com/CONNEX-66070.html

I mean, yes, I could play the cable game, or I could be satisfied with something that sounds great, is inexpensive and uses materials it would cost hundreds of dollars if bought retail. 

Best,

E

The audiophile’s dream.

Regarding the phono cable, if perchance your EVO III cartridge is the high output version you will want to keep in mind the following statement in the cartridge’s manual:

Note: If your receiver or pre-amp has capacitance loading capabilities, a Sumiko high output moving coil cartridges should be loaded with a value no higher than 200pf, and ideally below 100pf.

According to a review I’ve seen in "Soundstage" the Thor TA-3000 phono stage (if that is the model you are using) does indeed provide a selection of four different load capacitance settings.

You would presumably want to use the lowest of those four settings, if I’m correctly assuming that the numbers in their statement refer to the total of wiring capacitance plus phono stage input capacitance. But given that the tonearm cable and the connectors that are involved will probably present a load capacitance in the area of 20 or 30 pf or so, keeping the wiring capacitance in itself in the area of 100 pf will not be possible with many phono cables.    ***And that has no particular correlation with price.***    For example, the Purist Genesis phono cable has a capacitance of 45 pf per foot, while the far less expensive Signal Cable Silver Resolution phono cable is 18.9 pf per foot.

If your EVO III is the low output version, though, while cable capacitance would be considerably less important, minimizing it would still be preferable. See the information provided by Lyra cartridge designer Jonathan Carr that is quoted at this link, which is based on test results with a low output moving coil cartridge having the same output voltage rating as the low output version of the EVO III. And note the conclusion:

Comparing the simulations of the 3 cables shows that higher capacitances in the tonearm-to-phono stage interconnect cable demand lower resistor values at the phono stage input to control the resonant high frequency peaks. This in turn reduces the cartridge’s dynamics and resolution, and can also worsen tracking ability.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al