I'm trying to use a stereo wire instead of a mono wire for an output from a circuit I've built. The problem is, the gold wire has been cut too short, and I'd rather not strip it back any further since I don't have a lot of cord to work with. Since there are three wires (red, white, gold - ground) can I use either the red or the white as output, and the remaining color for ground, or do I have to use the gold cable for the ground and let the remaining wire dangle (taped)?Thanks
The gold wire is actually copper. It is braided and surrounds the red and white wires. It not only forms the common return for both the other wires, it is also a screen which eliminates unwanted pick up. The right channel signal appears between the red wire and the sceeen and the left channel signal appears between the white wire and the screen - which is usually grounded. If you use the red and white wires on their own you will probably get pick up on them. The screen really is necessary. If you have access to the screen at only one end (it sounds as if you might) then connecting the screen to whichever wire you choose to be grounded might be sufficient.
They're just wires - you can do what you want with them. You run the risk of forgetting that you've ignored the colour coding though!
