Balanced versus single ended

@fsonicsmith

“As an owner of an ARC Ref 6 and Ref 80S and Ref 150 SE I know that Warren Gehl and Co strongly suggest running balanced with the very best IC’s you can afford. I conducted listening tests with a wide assortment of balanced IC’s at all price ranges and heard huge differences. I settled on Cardas Clear Beyond. ‘

I just saw this. Very nice system. As an illustration to the forum… I am going to repeat your text with my experiences. This is in no way saying you are incorrect. But I am pointing out no matter how similar your systems the answer can be different.

My experience: As an owner of an ARC Ref 6SE and Ref 160s and Ref 160m monos, I know that Warren Gehl and Co strongly suggest running balanced with the very best IC’s you can afford. I conducted listening tests with a wide assortment of balanced and unbalanced IC’s at all price ranges and heard huge differences. I settled on Transparent Ultra after extensive testing of Cardas Beyond. I found no significant audible difference between single ended and XLR.

There are a lot of similarities in our systems and yet to me in my system Transparent was far superior to Cardas (I tried all kinds). But we definitely agree that there are very large differences in the sound quality among interconnects.

I'd not considered this point before, but given that the signal is duplicated then reversed then transported then recombined, doesn't that mean that any coloration or other effect by the interconnect is simply negated?  So, you don't really need fancy balanced cables?

 This is why XLR is especially good for long runs. The additional line for the single path is also responsible for the 6 dB gain

If your setup supports the balanced standard there will be no 6dB gain difference between balanced and single-ended.

I'd not considered this point before, but given that the signal is duplicated then reversed then transported then recombined, doesn't that mean that any coloration or other effect by the interconnect is simply negated?  So, you don't really need fancy balanced cables?

@jji666 

If your equipment supports the balanced standard then you don't need fancy cables. If it does not support the standard, you'll find yourself auditioning cables to find the one that sounds 'right'. Personally I find this a bit silly, since the balanced line system is a technology that eliminates cable colorations.

@atmasphere ,

I have tried, like you, to educate those on this forum for years. In fact, it is your knowledge that has guided me.

So, l want to give one last clarification on the RCA/XLR conundrum:

If your equipment supports the AES Standard, then whatever cable you use should not impart a significant sound quality difference.

If you use equipment not supporting the AES Standard or use RCA (unbalanced) cables, then you may/may not find significant differences in sound quality in using different cables.

FWIW, my dealer suggested some AQ Balanced wire to be an upgrade to the wire Atmasphere sold me for his equipment (25 ft length). Long story short, I noticed no significant difference in sound quality between the two cables. They both sounded good, but given the price difference, I would buy Ralph’s cables.

Audiogon members come here to find information. Hopefully, based on experience and fact.

Though I haven’t been here very long, I have found the advice/information Atmasphere has given to be sound and based in fact. It is the reason I ended up buying his equipment. (And, given his ability to produce quality equipment, I probably will be getting his Class D monoblocks in the near future.

Bob

They both sounded good, but given the price difference, I would buy Ralph’s cables.

To be clear, 'our' cables are simply Mogami Neglex with Neutrik connectors.