I think most of us using shielded twisted pair for RCA cables use the twisted pair as the signal lines and just connect the shield to the signal return at one end, like below from a WBC listing ...
Yeah, that's what many are doing and most of what I've read... I was just checking if anyone is tying them together to give a thicker conductor, like maybe for the long sub run I mentioned above.... it should work fine, just curious.
These are my own purely subjective impressions, but my 2549's with Amphenol RCA's sound a bit "opaque" and "lifeless" to me. My 2549's with Neutrik XLR's sound more dynamic with a clean/neutral presentation. Some of these percieved differences are probably from the added gain of the balanced circuit, but I think that the different connectors play a role here also. I think that the XLR is a superior connector compared to the RCA jack. I do believe that I've heard meaningful differences between different RCA jacks, but XLR connectors sound more alike to me than different. Sometimes I think that the connector makes more of a difference than the cable.
I have Switchcraft rca's on mine but I agree on the 'opaque' and 'lifeless' sound of 2549. I have no need for xlr really, so I'll stick with 2497 (with Amphenol rca) for now, but interesting to know, thanks!
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