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Balanced XLR to RCA Adapters: Good or Bad?

I’m thinking of buying a Clearaudio Ambient turntable with a Satisfy tonearm which has Balanced XLR cable plugs. My old NAD 3155 integrated amp (http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ramps&1027213706&openusid&zz02pete&4&5) does not have XLR inputs jacks. They make adapters ( http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=240-430) which would allow me to connect the TT to my amp. [The amp works fine; it has been recently serviced.] But is it worthwhile to do this? That is, on the assumption that Balanced XLR cables are superior to RCA cables, would I, by using such adapters, undo the good quality of the XLR cables?

Should I go to the expense of buying a preamp with XLR input jacks and RCA output jacks, like the PS Audio GCPH phono stage? I listen to classical music and jazz.
franz456
lewm
13,687 posts
 
Right on, Dan_ed. The only good connector is no connector. But sometimes they are unavoidable. I for one wonder why the SE standard is not BNC instead of RCA. BNC would seem to have the potential to sound better.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,129 posts
 
My experience is that adpators are not a good idea- they will rob the system of life and impact. So my vote is to change the connectors on the end of the cable.

The advantage of running balanced in the phono is (especially if you run LOMC) that the cable will have no audible effect on the sound (and also the Common Mode Rejection Ratio of noise that occurs at the input if the phono section is balanced). I've seen a lot of audiophile search for just the right-sounding cable in the phono rig; with balanced the only thing to do is make sure the cable is wired right. If so you will hear no difference between a cheap cable and an expensive one.

You would think that this is a major boon but I am constantly surprised at how many audiophiles would rather have the talking points of using a more expensive cable.
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
I for one wonder why the SE standard is not BNC instead of RCA. BNC would seem to have the potential to sound better.
Yes, RCA's leave a lot to be desired, including the fact that during insertion the signal pin makes contact before the ground sleeve, and during extraction breaks contact after the ground sleeve. Which means that a very large transient might be put into the system if the cable is accidentally yanked out while everything is powered up. But the superior impedance control that BNC's provide is irrelevant at analog audio frequencies, and I suppose they cost a bit more. The main reason BNC's are not used for single-ended phono signals, though, is probably just that RCA's became the de facto standard many moons ago, and no one wants to step out of line. My vintage Mark Levinson ML-1 uses Camac Lemo connectors, which are far superior to RCA's, but forces the use of unconventional cables having Lemo's on one end and RCA's on the other end, or else (gasp) Lemo to RCA adapters, which is what I use.

Best regards,
-- Al
sandstone
358 posts
 
"As for using the adapters, Doug is right on. You will hear the degradation even if you use Rat Shack lamp cord."

Agree, but the question IMO is not only whether there will be some loss of fidelity now, but how the OP can best get to his next levels of performance. The OP is adding an analog source that retails for >$5000 and has not yet decided what amplification upgrades to consider, if any.
As good as the NAD is for $200 gear, I would bet good money that he will very soon be in the market for a comparable phono pre-amp, etc. Since he hasn't ruled out balanced amplification as an option, why perform a modification that you may want reversed in the near future?
Having owned the NAD amplifiers, and also having used XLR-RCA adapters with Ayre and Jeff Rowland amps from time to time (JRDG actually supplies them), I can assert that the adapters may not be the weakest link and are worth a try, even if you just borrow a pair.
tdaudio
201 posts
 
Franz456, my one experience with adapters is negative. In my case I just purchased a Triplanar VII arm terminated with RCAs and I had an Ayre P-5X which is a true balanced phono preamp (Cart was/is a ZYX Universe X .24mv). I had been using an XLR terminated phono cable with the JWM 10.5 (VPI Aries 2) before the Tri. I got the "Cardas" adapters the same time I got the Tri and in my case I needed an RCA female to XLR unit.

With the Tri and adapters in place I was disappointed. The P-5X has XLR and RCA inputs so I switched between adapters and the reg RCAs and after putting them in the adapters a second time it was clear to me the they were bad. Just as Doug and Atmosphere said, it zapped life from the sound. Yes I am being a bit dramatic but it was more than I would have thought and it was easy to tell the difference.

I do agree with the above post, if you want to go that way, try some cheap ones first.

TD
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