Why would a balanced interconnect not be shielded? Is unshielded balanced interconnect a common interconnect design?
If the shield isn't connected on the equipment side, it isn't shield on the cable. A shield not connected at either end literally is invisible to noise, it's as if you stripped it off the cable. And sadly that is really common in audiophile gear, to not connect the shield. So actually its very common whether or not the cable has a shield, in audiophile gear.
The trend is popular because audiophiles love the sound of RF being infiltrated all over the place. This is shown by all the grounding boxes, unshielded/not-connected XLR cables, and field generator devices being popular. It's kind of all the rage lately, it seems. I personally think it is kind of a cheap way to work at quality sound, and find while it is a path towards something, it isn't a path towards what I like.
The reviewers description is fairly accurate for what RF can do. It heightens spatial cues and can soften sound. But I also think it pilfers off true character, reducing timbre, and hence also true resolution. It also tends to coincide with loss in dynamics, especially the smaller stuff, and overall less "jump" factor if you want to call it that. I'm sure there is more to say, but simply I think it's less natural, less real.
From an engineering perspective it is just idiocy. BUT subjectively one must except snoody engineering isn't how you necessarily win the hearts of customers, so it can make sense to engineer for higher RF as people like it. You'll find people on both sides of the fence, but usually those that accept and endorse it completely and utterly lie about what they're doing. Like calling something a "grounding box" gives the misconception that you're "grounding" whatever you're connecting to it, when the reality is you're doing the opposite. BUT you are grounding something... you're ground all the RF in the air.