shielded vs unshielded pros and cons?

Who knows where noise can intrude in a system.  I recently talked with a repair person for a local shop who had to run down RFI problems in a system.  It turns out that the long speaker cables were acting as an antenna and injected noise into the system; who knew that speaker cables would benefit from shielding?

In my builds it is clear that shielding a cable using conventional methods like foils and braided copper tubing closed in and darkened the sound. Unshielded ICs sounded more open, detailed and nuanced in my experience. Now some designs bypass these negative effects by shielding in a different manner and with SOTA materials. (Look up Hapa Audio for example)


Not one easy answer to the OP’s question.

If using the common twisted pair type of IC design, then using all natural conductor coverings like silk and cotton with no shield will sound best in most audio systems. Phono cables must be shielded however.


So many different designs out there that one cannot say shielding is always this or that.  Too many variables. 

Point of clarification,

“If using the common twisted pair type of IC design, then using all natural conductor coverings like silk and cotton with no shield will sound best in most audio systems. Phono cables must be shielded however.”

I should have said will typically sound wonderful and not necessarily the BEST in most systems.  Again, too many variables in design and system to system. 

So… pretty much try both shielded and unshielded cables and decide which works best in your system?

@rfnolse,
Comparing both types of interconnect cables directly in your own system is the idea circumstance if at all possible. As @grannyring pointed out there are multiple variables that could make one the better option over the other.

For my audio system solid silver wire conductor unshielded cables utilizing a paper covering/dielectric (Organic /all natural material as grannyring alluded to) sound sublime. Another system using shielded stranded copper with Teflon (Synthetic material) covering/dielectric could be every bit as successful. It all depends. Again compare both and just listen.
Charles