This has to do with the mating impedances of the equipment and cabling involved, the stability of the circuit(s) involved, etc...
While i'm not real familiar with the electrical characteristics of the Halcro designs ( other than using higher levels of negative feedback ), my "edumacated guess" is that you are actually hearing what the Halcro gear sounds like using the XLR connection with less outside interference from cable influences. By introducing an impedance mismatch via the RCA based connections, the cables themselves will have a higher level of influence on what you hear. Evidently, you prefer the influence of this specific cabling and the impedance mismatch that exists rather than the nominal "house sound" of Halcro.
Most designs using higher levels of negative feedback tend to sound lean and sterile. That's what i hear when listening to Halcro. It reminds me of very high quality SS gear during the "distortion wars". This is where THD, IMD, etc... measurements where how many people judged how good gear "could be". As such, GOBS of negative feedback were incorporated into the circuitry. The end result was SS gear that measured very well, but sounded lifeless.
Combining this type of "sterile" SS gear with modern "sterile" digital recordings and playback equipment is what has driven the huge tube resurgance. That is, the natural "richness" i.e. higher levels of pleasant sounding harmonic distortion of tubes helps to contribute some form of warmth and musicality back into what folks hear.
As a side note, it seems that those that love this type of sound are big fans of Nordost speaker cabling. That is, they prefer the very fast, highly detailed ( almost "etched" ) sound that, to me, lacks naturalness and musicality. This type of system / sound can be quite dramatic with a phenomenal "hi-fi" presentation. Whether or not one finds it ultimately satisfying in terms of actual music reproduction depends on personal preference.
Stick with what works for you. If you like the sound better one way over the other, and you've already got the gear ( components and cabling ) to make you happy, consider yourself lucky and ahead of the curve. Sean
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While i'm not real familiar with the electrical characteristics of the Halcro designs ( other than using higher levels of negative feedback ), my "edumacated guess" is that you are actually hearing what the Halcro gear sounds like using the XLR connection with less outside interference from cable influences. By introducing an impedance mismatch via the RCA based connections, the cables themselves will have a higher level of influence on what you hear. Evidently, you prefer the influence of this specific cabling and the impedance mismatch that exists rather than the nominal "house sound" of Halcro.
Most designs using higher levels of negative feedback tend to sound lean and sterile. That's what i hear when listening to Halcro. It reminds me of very high quality SS gear during the "distortion wars". This is where THD, IMD, etc... measurements where how many people judged how good gear "could be". As such, GOBS of negative feedback were incorporated into the circuitry. The end result was SS gear that measured very well, but sounded lifeless.
Combining this type of "sterile" SS gear with modern "sterile" digital recordings and playback equipment is what has driven the huge tube resurgance. That is, the natural "richness" i.e. higher levels of pleasant sounding harmonic distortion of tubes helps to contribute some form of warmth and musicality back into what folks hear.
As a side note, it seems that those that love this type of sound are big fans of Nordost speaker cabling. That is, they prefer the very fast, highly detailed ( almost "etched" ) sound that, to me, lacks naturalness and musicality. This type of system / sound can be quite dramatic with a phenomenal "hi-fi" presentation. Whether or not one finds it ultimately satisfying in terms of actual music reproduction depends on personal preference.
Stick with what works for you. If you like the sound better one way over the other, and you've already got the gear ( components and cabling ) to make you happy, consider yourself lucky and ahead of the curve. Sean
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