humming interconnects

does open shield mean "no shield" -- so its picking up some interference from the sub or amp?

No, assuming it is a conventionally designed unbalanced interconnect with rca plugs on each end. By open shield I mean that electrical continuity is not present from the ground (outer shell) part of one rca connector to the ground (outer shell) part of the rca connector at the other end. Which would be caused by a defect in the cable. You can check that easily if you have a multimeter or ohmmeter.

Regards,
-- Al

I had a hum problem with a set of Kondo silver interconnects. If I wiggled the interconnect, the hum disappeared. I gave the interconnect RCA plugs and the female plug on the amplifier a good cleaning with some very, very fine steel wool, and I swear the problem went away. Tarnish on the connections causing a grounding issue? I don't know, but it seems fine now.

You can check that easily if you have a multimeter or ohmmeter.

Excuse my ignorance, can you please describe how this is done exaclty?

Thanks

Set the multimeter to the R x 1 resistance scale, or whatever its lowest resistance scale is. Touch the two test leads from the multimeter to each other, and adjust the meter so that it reads zero ohms. Then touch one lead of the meter to the ground shell of the rca connector at one end of the cable, and touch the other lead of the meter to the ground shell of the rca connector at the other end of the cable.

The reading should be close to zero ohms, and should certainly be well under 1 ohm.

While you are at it, make a similar measurement between the center pins of the two rca connectors. The reading might be slightly higher, because of the relatively narrow gauge of the inner conductor of the cable, but will most likely also be well under 1 ohm unless the cable is particularly long.

Regards,
-- Al

I had the same problem with a pair of vdH The First. Couldn't do much about it so had to change to other cables.