Carver Raven 350 Amps

erichgs,

No need to. Bob says the RCA and XLR are wired together as a single ended input. The XLR is there for convenience not for a true balanced connection. So either rca or xlr should perform the same.

ozzy

So switched to the XLR inputs on mine and it actually reduced my hum (which manifests as a hiss from the tweeter.)  Now have to be inside of an inch to hear it in a fairly quiet room.

Again, I am just going from the benchmark dac3 directly to the amp and can't find anything on whether the XLR outputs on the DAC3 are actually balanced.

Erich

erichgs, and others.

Well I finally found the reason for the hiss.

I was using the XLR output of the DEQX preamp with a XLR cable into the Carver XLR input.

Since the Carver does not have a true balanced input (but my DEQX preamp does have a true balanced output) you have to use the rca (single ended) output from the preamp into the Carver inputs.

Confusing but it makes sense. Single ended output to single ended input. Simple as that.

That being said the Carver amp really should not have a xlr input connection without it being a true balanced connection. What would be the use?

Anyway, I now have a DEAD silent connection, no hiss or hum etc.

ozzy

@ozzy 

Good to hear you got it sorted out.  Bob was saying he provides the XLR input for people who only have XLR outs.  Similarly, the 4 and 8 ohm outs are also tied together but when he provided a single for those two he got a lot of questions.  The 2 ohm is separate as it internal requirements differ. 

Like I said, oddly enough connecting via XML makes mine quieter.  Probably, the RCA out on the DAC is generating the little bit of noise.

So yours are dead quiet now?  Even if you put your ear up to the tweeter with nothing playing?

@smokenjo 

I really like those, very nice.  I went with quilted sapele on mine, can't wait to get them.  Also, I have an SS7 center coming in the same finish.  At 23% complete right now so likely still be a few months out.

I went searching for you on audiocircle last night and found your post (assuming it is you) in the thread with the guy who is using the 305s with his SS10s and came from an AVA 600R.  Looks like multiple people are enjoying the pairing of these amplifiers with SoundScapes.  This is good to know.