Phono Cable "breakout"

Spread the RCA plugs by slitting the main jacket? Then wrap the slit with electrician tape..

If I understand the issue correctly with your setup, since the VPI tonearm has RCA jacks you can resolve it by using most standard RCA interconnects which are generally two separate cables. This would eliminate any problem with the wide spacing of the input jacks on your phono stage. If you need to connect a ground wire to eliminate hum (although many times it is not needed with VPI tables) you can use a separate single conductor wire for the ground connection. The ground cable does not have to be integrated with the RCA cables and you can use any reasonable quality conductor that can be connected to the ground posts. Hope this helps!

I thought of that, Schipo, but it would be bad for resale, I think. So, Bill, and trust me I do not know this, is there no real difference between interconnect and phono cable? I have been doing what you say to do for quite some time, but I have been considering it a weak link because it is not actually designed for phono. Hmm, makes me wonder how many people use regular interconnect on their VPI tables.

You need to try some different ones first. For phono, they do need to be shielded better in a lot of cases. RF from radio stations, AC hum, could leak into some. I don't use the braided/interweave type for phono. That design seems to have some hum IME. I go by what sounds good there.