Equipment Rack Between Speakers...Good or Bad

mijostyn

Balanced ins and outs let you use long low level signal cables without ill effect.

The ill effect is the money the really long wire costs is money that can't be spent on a shorter interconnect that sounds a lot better. 

yyxsantabarbera, I use Canare D206 AES/EBU cable with Neutric gold XLRs. I use it for long balanced runs and also digital transfer in any length. it is an ultra wide bandwidth cable. 
Caphill, Magico's flagship speakers are the Q7 mkII. I expect you to have them next week!

@atmasphere  Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking of using the long runs based on a thread you commented on. I am thinking of using a Benchmark LA4 preamp, which I think supports the balanced standard as you described. 

I am getting 2 amps (one a backup or change of pace). One will be a Benchmark AHB2 amp, which I assume supports the balanced standard. I used to own the AHB2 and a Benchmark DAC3 preamp/DAC and I could not tell a difference with different XLR cables. The second amp I will get is a Luxman m900u. This one I am not sure if they follow the balanced standard. I shall see.

@mijostyn Thanks for your input. I would not of thought using a AES/EBU cable between a preamp and amp was possible. I will dig more into this combo. Not too expensive to test with a short run.

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking of using the long runs based on a thread you commented on. I am thinking of using a Benchmark LA4 preamp, which I think supports the balanced standard as you described.

@yyzsantabarbara I would not leave that bit about the balanced standard to chance or assumption! Ask them if the unit supports AES48. They should reply with a 'yes' or 'no' without obfuscation.
The tricky bit that most manufacturers have is the part about how the balanced line system ignores ground and as a result how the output of something like a preamp **doesn't reference ground** in order to work. So if they seem uncertain if the standard is supported, ask them if it will work if only a twisted pair is used to conduct the signal, using only pins 2 and 3 of the output. If they say 'no- that will cause a hum or buzz because pin 1 isn't hooked up' or words to that effect, then you will know that the standard is not supported. I looked at their website, but information like that wasn't available.