What Does It Take To Surpass A SME V?

Likewise, the phono cable stays the same, Kimber KCAG soldered to the DIN plug to the arm (a bit tricky). 

What?!!  How is it possible to use the KCAG which is not shielded and have much hum?
Many claims have been read and heard that this lead is good for high signal connections but is not good for plugging into the output of a turntable and even I who own it have found it a source of severe hum; so how is this possible?

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How is it possible to use the KCAG which is not shielded ... this lead is good for high signal connections but is not good for plugging into the output of a turntable and even I who own it have found it a source of severe hum; so how is this possible?

It's certainly possible when using a truly balanced (differential) phono stage.

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These new products might be worth considering as alternatives to the SME V...

Re SME V with Kimber KCAG as phono cable

I have used this cable for a number of years without problems - not much hum. I compared to a Hovland phono cable, no big difference. I liked the airy sonic signature of the KCAG as interconnects, thats why I used an extra pair for phono cable. It was an audio friend of mine who did the actual soldering to the SME DIN plug but I don't think he used any special tricks. Even if my phono stage is mainly balanced, the first gain stage (of three) is single ended, so I use standard RCA inputs, not XLR. Running a separate ground to the arm makes zero difference, no more or less hum! The unshielded KCAG is certainly sensitive to some kinds of noise, e g digital bursts from an alarm system. But it does not pick up a lot of ordinary hum, in my system.  

It's certainly possible when using a truly balanced (differential) phono stage.

This is true. We ran Kimber cable for years with no problems at all- both on the SME5 and Graham 2.2.

But if you're running balanced, if the cable and preamp are properly set up you'll find that the 'sound' from one cable to the next is very similar.