Anybody here terminate DH Labs BL-1 cable?

I’ve experimented extensively with the"floating shield" architecture that Erik describes, also using the BL1 and agree, but with one little modification, if the source does not have a ground pin on the power cable, I attach the end connecting neutral + shield + drain, to the component in the "chain" that has a ground pin on the power plug.

Components that have no ground pin cannot remove the noise from the interconnect effectively and it is passed onto the next component in the chain.

In the event neither component has a ground pin on the power cable, grounding the case(s) reduce noise levels.

All my IC's use this architecture

Regards

Thanks for your responses!

What confused me about the BL1 is that it does not have a shield but rather is a twisted pair with a drain wire (as opposed to coax that has one wire with shield)

@williewonka what you mention is interesting. One of my sources is a VDAC2 (w/ VPSU)  and that uses a C7 (figure 8) connector without ground. In that case you are suggesting using the end with the shield to my amp?

On a slightly different topic, I am also trying to assemble a power cord for the VDAC2. Since its a C7 it does not have ground and only requires 2-core cable, but the bulk wire I found was only 3-core (I bought some Furutech). I wasn’t sure whether to just float the ground wire on both sides. I asked Furutech support and they said to do it that way

BL-1 does have a shield!

You just don't realize it. It's super-thin foil. You are probably cutting through it when you pull off the insulation.

Right.. but do you use that shield on either end?
I thought you only use the 2 wires + drain

For components that do not have a ground pin the following approach can be used

1. using the continuity test option on a multi-meter, determine if the neutral side of the RCA socket is connected to the case
2. if the RCA neutral is "grounded" to the case, then simply run a single wire from the case to a mains ground point and then connect the interconnect cable as erik stated
3. if the RCA neutral is not connected to the case - the only option is to connect the end of the interconnect with ground and neutral joined to the next component in the chain - hopefully that component will have a ground pin on its power cable.

With a floating shield architecture, it is always better to have a grounded source, that way connecting the interconnect as erik stated, i.e. to the source component, ensures that any "induced noise" in the shield is not transferred to the next component in the chain.

Grounding those components that do not have a ground pin ensures the quietest possible operation of your system - if done right

I've tried this many times and it works very well - but you can't blindly ground everything - the neutral side of the RCA socket on the component must have an electrical connection to the case/chassis for the interconnects to work properly

Not sure of that clarified things or not :-)