Building balanced interconnects--ideas

Thanks for your advice--I have been looking at VH Audio's recipes--suppose I don't want a shield--do you then run a ground wire soldered end-to-end vs a floating shield soldered at the source end? And please explain what appears to be the preference for a smaller guage wire in these recipes.

Great information! I am leaning toward three identical wires, each shielded with its own braid. The wire could float in a teflon tube, or it could have a foamed teflon insulaton, such as the VH AirLock. Please tell me this--is a single, solid conductor superior to stranded wire in this situation? And, I am running these interconnects directly from a GNSC Wadia 861SE into monoblock amps, so is the larger gauge more appropriate? Thanks to all for your valued experience.

Thanks, Atmasphere--I am thinking of a carbon-infused nylon braid on each teflon tube, not a metal foil. All are then braided loosely for strength and appearance. I have used Flexo Conductive on power cables, and they are very quiet. How good is Kimber's bulk wire vs Cardas? Neither ever mention Ohno Continuous Cast, but claim to be hyper-pure and soft-annealed, etc. I have to have OOC certified wire by prior experience.

Atmasphere--just to clarify, are you saying I should leave the ground pins unused--empty? I understand that pins 2 and 3 carry out what is intended by design in the Wadia 861SE and the ARC Reference 210s I am using. Both of these makers encourage the use of XLR to achieve best sound from their offerings. I now want to use the Duelund 2.0 silver ribbons with silk-impregnated dielectric, which I will individually sheath with FlexoConductive carbon-infused nylon braid--no metal shielding, no dead-end shield, just the 3 individually sheathed conductors in a loose twist/braid over 3 feet. But--bottom line question--are you saying I should leave the ground pins empty and use only the pins 2 & 3 conductors? My system is otherwise well-isolated and free of ground loops via Richard Gray's 240v/120v substation transformer and 1200S for front end. Thanks for your expert advice.

What type of shield material do your suggest? I want to avoid metal of any type, which would mean nothing soldered to pin 1. I hear you saying not to run a dedicated ground wire between pin 1, but to solder a shield to pin 1. If I don't want any metal at all, what should I do with pin 1 for continuity between the CD player and amps? Forgive my ignorance on this.