sleepwalker65
The loose, dangling, black ground wire common to many pickup arms is to help reduce ground loops; it can’t shield against RFI because it isn’t constructed as a shield - it’s just a dangling wire.
This is all moot in my system, because I keep the phono cartridge signal fully balanced. It’s wired into a balanced/differential phono stage - there's no need for a shield to reduce RFI.
Cleeds and Viridian, you are mistaken. The two conductors from each channel connect to the signal carrying twisted pair that is within the cable shield. One cable for right, one cable for left. The shield connects to the black tonearm ground wire at the turntable end and to the phono stage chassis ground at the other end. This gives you a properly shielded connection from cartridge to phono stage.That you would wire your pickup arm differently doesn’t mean Viridian or I are mistaken. Nor is it clear when you refer to your scheme as yielding "a properly shielded connection" just what you mean. As Viridian notes, your addition of a second ground may actually increase the chance of hum.
The loose, dangling, black ground wire common to many pickup arms is to help reduce ground loops; it can’t shield against RFI because it isn’t constructed as a shield - it’s just a dangling wire.
This is all moot in my system, because I keep the phono cartridge signal fully balanced. It’s wired into a balanced/differential phono stage - there's no need for a shield to reduce RFI.