Regular Cardas interconnects for VPI?

Some claim dedicated phono interconnects are better as they are generally smaller guage, somehow better preserve the integrity of the very low level cartridge output signal. I've never compared the two directly, just use regular IC.

Hmmm...what about shielding?

Yes, in general it will work for both applications but is that all? The main difference between the two, for me, is that one will carry a low level signal and one a line level signal. Shield should be considered as any interference picked up by the phono IC's (low signal more prone/susceptible to interference) will be amplified by 42 dB (typical phono gain for MM) + SUT gain plus linestage gain. I think saying that the only difference between the two is the drain wire is a little vague IMHO. Just like saying that the difference between two ,say, 6SN7 tubes from different manufacturers is only the brand name.

My opinion only.

In my system, I've definitely had problems with hum and radio interception using unshielded interconnects. Tried several brands of unshielded cables with the same poor results.

That's a good point about shielding but I can't imagine that dedicated phono cables would have more shielding than regular ICs. I have a set of SME phono cables that I've been using and other than the nice plugs they don't look like anything special.

I've not noticed any difference in shielding between same exact models of IC's vs. phono cables. IC's also seem to be just as likely to be shielded as phono cables. Really very few unshielded IC's out there, even the most elementary have a twist over them, Speltz cable for an example.