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What phono preamps are balanced

Since I am looking for a phono preamp with balanced circuitry and outputs, I would like to know what are my choices. I know of these: pass xono, ear 324, aesthetix rhea and io, bat vk 10, hagerman trumpet,........................................................................................................ but am not sure of the others like: manley steelhead, arc ref., tom evans groove, asr basis, acoustech ph1p, linn linto, cary 301 or 302, clear audio, herron vtph-1, art audio, whest p.20, zyx, artemis, ayre, clearaudio reference, rowland cadence, klyne, etc etc.Thanks for the help.
pedrillo
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,841 posts
 
Davidsss, most tonearms are balanced sources; IOW you do **not** have to do anything with the wiring, only the interconnect cable between the arm and the preamp.

Even an old BSR or Garrard from the 1960s is a balanced source!
scousepasty
106 posts
 
Tdaudio wrote, "ARC Ref 2 is fully balanced input to output it just has RCA connectors for the input since that is what most people will have. I bet one could special order XLRs for one or both inputs. Either way, electrically, the positive and negative of each channel from the cartridge make it to the positive and negative inputs of the balanced circutry".

Indeed, I clarified this prior to purchase and had Steve at GNS install a set of XLR type inputs, as an addition to the RCA sockets.
pedrillo OP
560 posts
 
New ones keep appearing hence the new list.
Here is a list of all the balanced phono stages which have balanced circuitry not just the xlr connectors and/or transformer coupling that I have found, please feel free to add others or make corrections:
Aesthetix io (tube) Also Signature and Eklipse
Aesthetix Rhea (tube) Also now available Signature series
Aqvox 2ci (ss)
Arc Ref2(tube)
Arc Ph2 (ss)
Asr Basis exclusive (ss)
Atma-sphere mp1 (tube)
Atma-sphere mp3 (tube)
Ayre p-5x (ss)
Bat VK-P10 (tube)
Bat VK-P5 (tube)
Clearaudio Balanced Reference (ss)
Ear 324 (ss)
Einstein tt choice (ss)
Essential 3160 (ss)
hagerman trumpet (tube)
Jeff Rowland Cadence (ss)
Pass Xono (ss)
PS Audio gcph (ss)
Ray Samuels Emmeline XR-10B(ss)
RCM Sonsor Prelude(ss)
Simaudio lp5.3 (ss)
Whest ps.30r (ss)
Whest ps.30rdt (ss)
+++ If anyone conducted a shootout or has owned a few balanced phono stage please feel free to drop a comment.
scousepasty
106 posts
 
I own both an ARC Ref 2 Phono stage and a Clearaudio Balanced Reference. I feel that the Clearaudio has been 'voiced' for use with their cartridges, which suits me fine, as I have both a Titanium and an Insider Reference. Plus it can be used without a pre-amp. But, it sounds slightly cold and bright compared to the ARC.
At the moment I'm enjoying the ARC/Allearts with some of my older vinyl and the Clearaudio Balance/ Titanium with Jazz on heavyweight 45 rpm vinyl.
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