[Scott Dorsey]

Phil Allison wrote:
mcp6453 wrote:

** The Pearstone cable has a spiral, copper grounding shield - says so the "overview".

It also states the purpose of the conductive PVC shielding is to reduce electrostatic ( ie handling ) noise.

How effective is the conductive PVC shield?

** Very effective at the stated purpose.

Agreed. Cables that use just the conductive plastic tend not to perform that
well, because the thickness of the plastic (and therefore the resistance) is
different in different directions. There are a couple European manufacturers
making cable like this.

But cables that use conductive plastic combined with a proper shield do very
well, and the plastic almost eliminates handling noise when used for high-Z
connections.

For pro audio where everything is 600 ohms or lower, handling noise should
not be a huge deal, but it still occasionally is, and the conductive plastic
is cheap insurance. It beats graphite, which works well for reducing tribo
noise but makes a mess when you terminate the cable, and which can cause
leakage resistances if you don't clean the mess up.

I am curious though whether the PVC increases the ruggedness of the spiral
shield. I never liked spiral shields because they are much easier to damage
than braid shields, but I'd think that PVC layer might hold them in place
better.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."