Anybody here terminate DH Labs BL-1 cable?

Thanks for your responses!

What confused me about the BL1 is that it does not have a shield but rather is a twisted pair with a drain wire (as opposed to coax that has one wire with shield)

@williewonka what you mention is interesting. One of my sources is a VDAC2 (w/ VPSU)  and that uses a C7 (figure 8) connector without ground. In that case you are suggesting using the end with the shield to my amp?

On a slightly different topic, I am also trying to assemble a power cord for the VDAC2. Since its a C7 it does not have ground and only requires 2-core cable, but the bulk wire I found was only 3-core (I bought some Furutech). I wasn’t sure whether to just float the ground wire on both sides. I asked Furutech support and they said to do it that way

BL-1 does have a shield!

You just don't realize it. It's super-thin foil. You are probably cutting through it when you pull off the insulation.

Right.. but do you use that shield on either end?
I thought you only use the 2 wires + drain

For components that do not have a ground pin the following approach can be used

1. using the continuity test option on a multi-meter, determine if the neutral side of the RCA socket is connected to the case
2. if the RCA neutral is "grounded" to the case, then simply run a single wire from the case to a mains ground point and then connect the interconnect cable as erik stated
3. if the RCA neutral is not connected to the case - the only option is to connect the end of the interconnect with ground and neutral joined to the next component in the chain - hopefully that component will have a ground pin on its power cable.

With a floating shield architecture, it is always better to have a grounded source, that way connecting the interconnect as erik stated, i.e. to the source component, ensures that any "induced noise" in the shield is not transferred to the next component in the chain.

Grounding those components that do not have a ground pin ensures the quietest possible operation of your system - if done right

I've tried this many times and it works very well - but you can't blindly ground everything - the neutral side of the RCA socket on the component must have an electrical connection to the case/chassis for the interconnects to work properly

Not sure of that clarified things or not :-)

The drain is in contact with the shield across the length of the cable. It IS the contact for the shield. You never solder or crimp to a delicate foil shield like this directly.

Connect the drain at 1 end only, and place it towards the source for best RF removal with RCA cables.

With balanced, of course, you connect the drain wire to pin 1 and the outer casing.