I unscrewed the end of one of my Monster Cable RCA's(that I am not impressed with) and there are actually "3" leads. There is the positive and negative, inside the inner insulation. Then there is the shield wire that is braided around the inner insulation, which is then coated with the outer rubber/insulation. THe shield wire is not connected to anything. The red lead goes to the positive(center pin) and the black lead goes to the negative(outer housing).

Look at my home made interconnects thread. just an idea.