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All things being equal (hypothetical) which do you prefer, XLR or RCA?

Hello All,

Just curious here. All things being equal would you go balanced or unbalanced if you have the option for both? I only ask because I've never really compared-though I have gone both routes at different times. I have gone the balanced route now (power amp to pre, and DAC to pre), but wonder which route you all would choose...Just curious and having some fun...
kingbr

Showing 2 responses by mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
If you have a preamp that takes both balanced and single ended devices and a source that supplies both switch back and forth between say three foot balanced cables and three foot single ended ones correcting for any volume differences. See if you can really tell the difference. I just did this experiment with digital cables comparing AES, SPDIF and Optical types. No difference at all over short distances. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Locking grip?, sluggish? 

Over short distances they sound exactly the same. Over longer distances balanced cables have a theoretical advantage but I doubt any of us could reliably tell the difference. XLRs are certainly more ..hip. They lock in place which is nice. For those of us that use mono amps behind the speakers they could be considered mandatory and this is where they first entered the consumer Hi Fi chain then got generalized. They make sense for turntables which are balanced from the get go. Sound different? In your dreams maybe.
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