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XLR vs RCA

I recently purchased a new Streamer/Pre/Dac (Linn ADSM/3 w/Katalyst) and a PS Audio S300 power amp.  I hooked them up using some high-end RCA cables and they sounded great.  After doing a little reading and from advice for PS Audio I orders some XLR cables (Mogami).  They are decent but not overly expensive cables.  They arrived today so I got it all changed over.  I gotta say it is a significant difference.  I realize they have a higher gain, but I am amazed about the change in the soundstage.  It just blossomed.  One of my favorite albums is Aaron Neville - The Soul Classics.  I have played this hundreds of times, so I am very familiar with it.  Today I heard in a whole different light.  Awesome.

rjinaz86323
996turbo911
104 posts
 

I try to stick with balanced whenever it is an option. Some components only have RCA and that's fine, if I can though I'll go XLR. In my experience it is usually the better bet.

ghdprentice
8,255 posts
 

For decades the standard interconnect was RCA. Somewhere around twenty years ago balanced designs started becoming common and balanced interconnects became increasingly common. Now I would say the default for most companies are balanced... some offering newer methods. So, I switched to balanced about ten years ago. 

Folks invariably end up with a number of extra interconnects laying around. Which can be useful. So, it is very helpful you standardize on what is mainstream... since that is where most component companies are going to but their greatest effort. So, for now XLR is it. 

jnovak's avatar
jnovak
462 posts
 

Years ago I TONS and TONS of A/B comparisons of RCA vs. XLR. XLR won out every time. My favorite all time cables are the original Transparent Reference XLR and speaker cables. End game for me.

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