Elliot, You figured it out. To strip those very thin gauge Litz wires, best to either scrape off the insulation with an exacto knife or burn it off with solder. I do the latter. However, if the Litz wires are silver, there is a risk of melting the silver of the wires in the process, because they are so fine in gauge. You have to be quick with the soldering iron and careful. (You seem to have noticed this issue and dealt with it.) You CAN have both shielding and no DIN connection by simply soldering your chosen shielded wires to go downstream from the ends of the Litz wires to the phono inputs. I’ve done that more than once.
As to this question of VTA "on the fly", I have vented my spleen on this question before: Why is it really necessary to adjust VTA on the fly? There is nothing lost by interrupting play, then adjusting VTA, then resuming play. If your aural memory is so short that you cannot keep in mind the tonal balance before vs after adjustment, then you have a problem. For me the big point with VTA adjustment is that I refuse to use any tonearm that does not provide for raising and lowering the pivot point in a precise, quantifiable, and repeatable fashion, and then locking down the chosen position. No more tiny set screws that squeeze the vertical shaft of the tonearm as it passes through the mounting base. You need 3 hands to adjust VTA precisely with that arrangement. Otherwise, I see no need to be able to move the pivot point up and down while playing music. I own both a Triplanar and a Reed, as well as the L07J tonearm on the Kenwood L07D. All of these are described by some as permitting VTA on the fly. I would never think of using them that way.
As to this question of VTA "on the fly", I have vented my spleen on this question before: Why is it really necessary to adjust VTA on the fly? There is nothing lost by interrupting play, then adjusting VTA, then resuming play. If your aural memory is so short that you cannot keep in mind the tonal balance before vs after adjustment, then you have a problem. For me the big point with VTA adjustment is that I refuse to use any tonearm that does not provide for raising and lowering the pivot point in a precise, quantifiable, and repeatable fashion, and then locking down the chosen position. No more tiny set screws that squeeze the vertical shaft of the tonearm as it passes through the mounting base. You need 3 hands to adjust VTA precisely with that arrangement. Otherwise, I see no need to be able to move the pivot point up and down while playing music. I own both a Triplanar and a Reed, as well as the L07J tonearm on the Kenwood L07D. All of these are described by some as permitting VTA on the fly. I would never think of using them that way.