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Balanced vs. single-end RCA's - A Beginner's question

Due to the need for 50 foot length cables to my monoblocks, I first purchased Transparent's Ultra RCA's. However, after discussing the benefits of going with "balanced" cables, I traded in my RCA's for Transparent's Utra balanced interconnect. They literally doubled my cable "investment".

- Will it be worth the price?
- What should I expect? I'm hoping for an overall sound improvement and greater bass response.
- Any and all comments about the system below would be appreciated. I'm still learning...and may need a second job to afford this great hobby.

Amps: Classe CAM-350 monoblocks
Preamp: Classe CP-60
Speakers: Martin Logan's Prodigy
Speaker Cables: Transparent's Music Wave plus bi-wire 8'lengths
Interconnects: soon-to-be Transparent MW Ultra - 50 foot/side.
CD Player: Rega Planet 2000

Music: Jazz, pop, orchestral...Steely Dan,including anything by either Fagan or Becker... Beach Boys, Eagles, Pat Metheny Group, Everthing but the Girl,
128x128gerryn
rsuminsby's avatar
rsuminsby
152 posts
 
From a purely engineering standpoint, a cable run as long as you have clearly warrants balanced cables. Very long runs are one of the primary reasons that pro audio gear uses balanced interconnects.

Whether it's "worth the money" is a question only you can answer...but please post your assessment after you install them. I'd be curious to know what differences you do notice.
gerryn's avatar
gerryn OP
143 posts
 
Cornfed: Thanks for your reply and questions. I did experience some noise that I'm still not sure are a result of the RCA cabling or a phasing problem. According to my dealer, the speakers/amps may be on a different "phase" than that of the pre-amp/CD player. He tells me that they need to be on the same phase. Do you know anything about this subject?

I must say that since the Martin Logan's need to be plugged in, I do hear a very faint, mid-range hummmmm when there's no signal going to the speakers.

thanks
gerryn's avatar
gerryn OP
143 posts
 
As a follow-up, I have also heard that balanced cabling provides a 3 db or up to a 6 db gain, depending on who I talked to. (Maybe they will not make a big difference and I did this simply to sleep better at night. :)

Silly me, but before I wrote this question, I forgot about the search engine were I found MANY questions/answers like the one I posted.
kirk930's avatar
kirk930
285 posts
 
for that long of a run i think xlrs are the way to go. hell of a beginers system. the logans would take you to live concerts with good tubes.
elgordo
530 posts
 
For a pair of 50 footers that don't require a second mortgage, I recommend making your own cables. Use Mogami Neglex cable ($1.00 - $1.50/foot) which is used almost everywhere in the recording process. Add Nuetrik AES/EBU (balanced) connectors at < $5.00 each and use 4% silver, lead free solder. I would put these cables up against anything out there. For less than $200.00 you can buy everything, including a soldering iron if you don't own one. Don
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