@cleeds about 6.50 in Kevin addresses the balanced input question. It is fully balanced according to Pathos.
Balanced vs. Single Ended Interconnects
From your experience, would you expect a higher quality single ended interconnect or an entry level balanced interconnect to sound better when connecting two balanced components?
More specifically, I will be connecting a Denafrips Ares ii to a Pathos Classic One Mkiii and I currently have Audioquest Sydney RCA interconnects. Is it worth getting some cheap Monoprice XLR cables or should I just wait until I can justify purchasing something from Audioquest (probably Red River or Belden BAV) in the future.
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I'm not sure whether the Pathos Classic One is fully balanced or not. In the video, Kevin says it has a "fully balanced front end." That sounds to me like the amplifier itself is not a differential design, @jerryg123. But, with that front end, I can see that there could be advantages to using a balanced cable. |
For whatever it's worth I have done a lot of critical listening over the years with a lot of different high-end audio equipment and at short distances (1/M - 1.5/M) and I have not noticed a difference in the music comparing XLR to RCA other than I acknowledge that when the volume is set at the same level the XLR cables are about 3dB louder. Therefore assuming your equipment has both RCA and XLR inputs and outputs I recommend staying with a good pair of RCA interconnects unless you are talking about extremely long runs. |
I thought proper xlr cables used “common mode rejection”? meaning the two half signals being 180 out of phase… thus cancelling out any real EMI/RFI when summed at the termination? in other words, XRL cables with no shielding at all should work just the same… but single ended RCA cables improve with proper sheathing?
I know I have a lot to learn in the balanced versus unbalanced cable department lol
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