Headphone Recable: Three conductors or Four?

[edwardsean]

Hi.

I'm recabling a pair of GS1000s. I was wondering is it better to take both the L/R ground leads all the way to the jack and terminate it directly? Or, is it possible to solder the L/R leads together at the 'Y' joint and just take one lead down to the ground on the jack? Does it make a difference sonically? Thanks.

[thebikingengineer]

If you're not going balanced then it shouldn't matter where you terminate your grounds. Most people use 4-conductor wire for headphone re-cables, so it wouldn't make things any easier to terminate the ground at the Y. I would personally terminate all of the wires at the jack as it is one less solder joint, this would minimize the possible locations where a bad connection would happen.

[Mr. Tadashi]

It would be easier to use four conductors as it has been mentioned that is is one less solder joint and well it would be a bit more difficult to do the splice. Aside from that having four conductors become advantageous should you ever decide to reterminate the cable in to a balanced configuration.