How important Is shielding with RCA wires? (Ethan Winer, new video)

It’s safer to be shielded....just like being vacinnated......or a condom, except you only have to do it once.

Non-shielded, POTENTIALLY more problematic and can be for real and easily heard (or not so easily even in other cases) as I related above. YMMV. It all depends. Like radio reception. Like most things.

I am very proud of my $30 mu metal foil shielding solution for my phono section. Allows me to use the DNMs which I strongly recommend. I think I will brag about it here until no end now like some...or one...we all know who I’m talking about? Oh wait, I did it 10 years ago..........is it too late?

I have made a lot of interconnects but almost always shielded them and then I tried a couple of sets unshielded just for kicks.  I didn't hear any noticeable difference between the shielded or unshielded cables in my system so since then I have included the shield for the reasons stated by others, and because I didn't hear any negative effect on the sound because of the shielding.  I believe there are many things that have a greater influence on how dynamic a system sounds than cable shielding.  Plus, well-regarded manufactured cables at all price ranges use shielding.

@three_easy_payments - I will try to hide all my whiskey bottles better than Mr. Winer did.

Easy - mine are nowhere near that big!

+1 @mapman ​​​​@mitch2

i recall that there was a reputable cable maker some time ago (don’t remember who now) who argued that shielding rca i-c’s could hurt the sound a little, but even then that maker admitted that there are many times/places/systems that need the benefits of proper shielding (usually in the context of truly minute phono signals and their connections), which outweighed the minor sonic decrement

i have some unshielded ic’s and but most i have are shielded - and i don’t have the same ic that is constructed with and without shielding as the only difference, so i can’t really say if it helps

and i like others here, have always use shielded connections for analog

The one possible downside to shielding is you add capacitance, and therefore risk (slightly) rolling off the high end of a signal. Math says this should not matter usually. 

Personally I build all my cables with a shield, for what it's worth.

I watched the video. It’s so ….. sad. Hopefully the cats are doing well.

The “assistant” is such a nice gentle woman.