[ctviggen]

Good point.  You can always cut the wire, but it's much harder for someone to add it than cut it.

[nuforce-casey]

Jason, doesn't connecting the shield to RCA ground increase the potential for a ground loop (assuming the opposite end has the shield also similarly grounded)?  I've always been taught that the shield should only be grounded at one side (i.e., one component).

Grounding is more involved that that.   In high frequency, multiple grounding is a must, but with low frequency, single-point grounding is a must.   We implemented hybrid grounding schemes to fulfill the need of dealing from low frequency audio signal to high frequency RFI reduction.