shielded cables & IC's or not?

Generraly speaking unshielded cables sound "open" and by that I mean, the sound stage is not restricted in both width and depth. Shielded cablles generally "choke" the music and by that I mean they close off the sound stage and your music sounds less "open". In addition, shielding may introduce veils that may make your music sound recessed, ill-defined and muddy. In short, bothe transparency and soundstaging are affected in an adverse way. If you look at the market, almost all of the "Name brand" cables are shielded. Choose a cable of very small gauge, ie a gauge smaller than 22. I personally prefer 26 gauge. I have tried 30 gauge cable but it's hard to work with. Furthermore, make sure that the main lead consists of a SINGLE wire, be it 22 AWG or 24 or preferrafly 26 AWG. Stay away from multistranded design. You may also consider a power generator, I have not tried PS Audio's 600 but have heard good things about it. If you can not afford an AC power generator, then the best thing to do is to listen to music late at night or preferrably in early am, ie 1-2 am with all the lights off, and all the appliances off/disconnected! You have a relatively high end system, you might as well hear all of it's benefits!

I have an ES/SS system similar to yours. Shielded cables, IMO. You do not want any RFI mixed in with the signal. It will result in a glassy sound if you use unshielded cables.

On the contrary, shielding can actually pick up RFI and EMI eminating from nearby power cords, etc, and introduce it into the signal path resulting in unfavorable sound characteristics that I have previously mentioned. You may want to do a trial of both a shielded and an unshielded cable under the conditions that I previously mentioned. I have tube monoblocks with a dual mono designed tube preamp. I have tried shielded, partially shielded and unshielded ICs in my low powered tube system and IMHO, the unshielded variety was MUCH better sounding. The partially shielded variety was much better than my 100% shielded cable. I have a refined system and could easily hear the differences! Best thing to do is try for yourself. Good luck

I recently switched from Phoenix Gold interconnecs (shielded, twisted multistranded design & cooked for a week on a Mobie) to Tice Audio (solid core, unshielded, TPT treated). Simply no comparison...so much music, smoothness of sound and openness!

I still don't know whether a cartridge's signal to the phono preamp should be shielded...

Of course, you should try both. The fact that you live in a large city may(?) make "shielded" a better option. Do you live in a private house or a multi-dwelling? When I lived in apartments in New York City, shielded cables always seemed to work better.