Non shielded interconnects for connecting to tube integrated gear

It's not entirely snake oil, but it's not necessarily just for tubes, and not necessarily better. 

Shielding adds a tiny bit of capacitance to the cable at the risk of extra EM/RFI noise. If you can get away without the shielding it might be better.

In this case, your mileage WILL vary. Enjoy experimenting.

Best,

E

Clearly I was too busy driving to write correctly. :) I meant to say:

"Shielding adds a tiny bit of capacitance in exchange for reducing the chances of EMI/RFI noise."

Best,

Erik

if we send a 20 kHz signal down a cable with and w/o that tiny capacitance, what will happen?

I read somewhere while reading about tube integrated amps that non-shielded interconnects should be used in lieu of shielded interconnects.

Out of context, this statement makes no sense. Non-shielded cables can sound great as long they avoid nearby EMF/RFI. In other words, behind your equipment rack, they cannot run across/near any power cabling or power supplies inside components. Otherwise, noise will be introduced to the signal. Most IC’s are shielded because of the rat’s nest of cabling behind a rack.

It depends on the system setup and local room environment and susceptibility to interference/noise. Potentially unshielded cables can sound very open and transparent.  I'm  able to use unshielded cables in my  tubed system and they're terrific sounding.  This will be totally dependent on individual system variables
Charles