Balanced preamp recommendations

The Aesthetix Calypso line stage has a remote. The Callisto (the more expensive unit) does not, but I've heard that Jim White has been working on a remote for it as an option.

Steve5725, I know of no superior alternative to the Aesthetix Calypso at near its price level. Another worthy candidate in this same price ballpark would be the Atma-Sphere MP-3. If you are committed to having a balanced linestage, these would be my recommendations for your consideration.

Moving up from this price point there are some other good options, such as the Aesthetix Callisto, the Atma-Sphere MP-1, the BAT 51SE.

All of these are superior line stages independent of being true balanced circuits.

But, are you sure that balanced circuitry will give you superior sound thus making it a priority? In my experience, the results of balanced v. single-ended can be very system dependent and not by any means a foregone conclusion. This is even more the case where the equipment is from different manufacturers. YMMV of course.

For example, I have a balanced circuit Aesthetix Io with volume controls driving a balanced circuit Atma-Sphere MA-2 amplifiers. I use single-ended interconnects between them: the sound is marvelous. Jonathan Valin reported a similar experience with balanced circuit equipment in a review he wrote in TAS not so long ago. So, just checking in on assumptions...
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Check out the McIntosh C200 if you like CJ sound. Stereophile thought it was just as good as the BAT VK-51SE but more practical and more attractive for less money.

Rushton,

Although I'm not an engineer that has technically examined this, I've anecdotally found a system whose components are ALL balanced to show slight but significantly higher performance than a system that uses a mix of balanced and single-ended components. I'm not an engineer, but I would guess that not having to deal with the voltage differences expected between balanced and single-ended inputs/outputs helps keep the overall signal from degrading as a result of need to step up/down a voltage for each respective component.

Check out Dave Davenport's line stage kit at Raleigh Audio. It is a transformer coupled balanced parallel feed differential design that has worked "magic" in my system. This kit (also available built) has been the subject of a series of articles in AudioXpress magazine. If you are interested, see it at www.kandkaudio.com

Hi Phil,

I acknowledge that what you say makes sense. Would seem so to me, too. What I've gathered, though, is that the interface for consumer balanced gear is not built to a consistent standard. As a result, you can get varying results when putting together gear from different manufacturers even if all the components are true balanced circuits. And, in some cases, one might actually prefer the sound of the single-ended connection even between two balanced components from the same manufacturer, depending on the rest of one's system, as Jonathan Valin reported as his experience with some components.

My only thought in my original post is that chosing equipment solely because it is balanced may not be the correct "critical path" to success in assembling a system.

I do appreciate your thoughts and sharing your experience.
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