To balance or not to balance, that is the question

All else being equal, is it better to use balanced or single ended interconnects from preamp to power amp? This assumes a length of 1 meter.

sydneysophia04-18-2003 7:32pm

Post removed Aug 06, 2015
bluefin Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 111 posts 04-18-2003 at 09:36pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete If your pre and amp are balaced CKT, use XLR cable. You will find gain is ~3 dB higher, i.e. louder at the same preamp vol. position. The bass is tighter and high has better resolution, and the sound is overall "cleaner". It does sound better, not just impress any friend, if it is really balanced CKT. If your amp's are not balanced CKT, they probably sound about the same in RCA or XLR. In this case, RCA is usually cheaper cable.
subaruguru Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 1,375 posts 04-18-2003 at 10:11pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete TRULY balanced operation will yield exactly a +6dB increase, possibly lowered noisefloor, resulting in more perceived detail and top octave air. Fully complementary balanced designs thus usually sound better when run correctly (XLR) rather than just single-ended (RCA). FAKE balanced operation will have the same loudness as single-ended, and thus no advantages. Hope this helps.