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Switched from RCA to XLR Interconnects - WOW

I just received a set of Pangea True Balanced Premier SE XLR interconnects from Audio Advisor and connected them between my phono preamp to my amp.
I really didn't expect to hear any major difference, but man was I wrong.  The sound quality is night and day improved over my previous cables (Clear Day Cables RCA cables).  The improvement in bass response is amazing, and the soundstage got about 2 feet wider and deeper.  Mids and highs are also more clearly defined, and the backgrounds are about as black as I have ever heard.   What also surprised me is how much hotter the signal is into the amp.  I had to turn the volume down quite a bit to equal levels I usually listed to with the previous cables.
FYI, the preamp is a Parasound JC3+ and the amp is a Lyngdorf TDAI-3400.  
I'm really impressed.  I had always wanted to try using balanced cables but this is the first amp I have owned that had balanced inputs.  
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cleeds
6,034 posts
 
audioman58
... having a True balanced like in most professional recording studios ... they use Jensen transformers  for the input,and outputs, this way this circuit
has guaranteed matched impedance,as well as the transformers act in filtering Therefore this method is Absolute in being by far the best and only true
balanced method ...
That's quite debatable. Arguably, the best method approach to balanced connections is to use them between true balanced, differential circuits. I think it's also dubious as to whether it's a good idea to use transformers in an audio circuit to provide "filtering."


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kahlenz
276 posts
 
I use balanced connections in many Pro Audio applications to great effect.  In my home systems, I found balanced connections (when available) improved the sound in certain situations where the cable placement was compromised.  I am currently using RCA connections (by choice) between components in one of my systems.  The components are logically arranged and the cable runs are short and direct.  It is my opinion (and the opinion of my amp designer and my speaker designer) that balanced connections can be a good solution for less than optimal wiring conditions, but the improvement in performance will be not worth the additional cost in systems that are optimally organized with short runs and little chance of picking up any external noise.
ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
@almarg - spot on, as usual.

Changing to balanced cables can have ZERO or HUGE effect depending on electronics and system configuration. Given the OPs rapture, it’s quite possible his unbal setup was incorrect or a piece of gear has a poor unbal implementation.

Will every on please read The G Word, or How to Get Your Audio off the Ground by Bruno Putzeys before prattling on. https://www.hypex.nl/img/upload/doc/an_wp/WP_The_G_word.pdf

In a properly designed and configured system, balanced is simply a different set of colorations.
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shadorne
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@ieales

Exactly. If you have consumer grade audio then balanced may not do much for you unless you have an EM/RF noise (reduced by 40 dB in extreme cases) problem. If you have pro grade audio with much higher line signal levels then you will get the full benefit of around 12 dB lower noise floor with XLR.

Are there any audiophiles who don’t care about an intrinsically 12 dB lower noise floor? Are there any audiophiles who don’t care about 40 dB reduction in EM/RF noise?

Check out this video

https://youtu.be/9ckp5CYBBjE


Of course if all you have is cheap RCA and consumer grade electronics then there is little you can do....

ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
Balanced reduces induced noise. If the output is noisy, balanced will not reduced the noise. Balanced may offer some relief in noisy environments provided the rest of the electronics are sufficiently well designed. I fixed lots of 'pro audio' gear that was not.

The video is irrelevant. One can use star quad in unbalanced connections and achieve similar results. Connect the screen at one end only.

Many would do well to arrange the rats nest behind their gear to achieve several db better noise figures.
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