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Balanced XLR Turntable / Tonearm

Hi all. I'm moving to a fully balanced amplification system (phone preamp to preamp to amp -- all Sierra). I have an inexpensive turntable today -- the AR Turntable (1984) with a Linn Basik Plus arm and an Adcom Hexacoil moving coil cartridge. The Linn Basik has a 5 pin DIN type connector with a separate ground and I had planned to "cut and paste" an XLR cable to it to connect to the phono preamp. However, my analog system is not that great and my other alternative is to go to a different table/tonearm setup. Are there any that you would recommend and are not too expensive (e.g., under $4k) that already have balanced outputs? Of course, I could always "cut and paste" other setups but it would be easier if the tonearm wires were not connected to ground, so that could work too. Thanks.
ozfly
twl
3,251 posts
 
Most tonearm cables are RCA unbalanced types, since the vast majority of all phono cartridges are unbalanced.
There is no real advantage of any kind to using a balanced connection on the tonarm cable.
ozfly OP
887 posts
 
Twl, you're undoubtedly correct, but I'm moving to a phono preamp (battery powered, fully differential, copper shielded ...) that only allows for XLR connections and requires floating positives, negatives and grounds -- one per channel. The Discovery Cable route is one way to go. Since I might be better off with a new "mid-fi" turntable (the Torres will have to wait), I was hoping there might be one that is already configured for the XLR cable. Judging from the relatively low number of responses, my guess would be that no such table/arm exists. I continue to invite folks to share any knowledge about such configurations. In the meantime, I may have to look up some old "best of" threads for a new table/arm and then go the route recommended by Discovery Cable. Thanks again.
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
I'm running a din to XLR Hovland cable into a BAT VKP10SE phono stage. The XLR termination did take some noise out vs the RCA termination. I have both inputs on my phono stage. It helps.

I think the Aesthex Io, the Ayre, Atmas-Sphere are other examples of balanced phono stages. I'm sure there are many others. The turntable tonearm isn't a issue. It a cable connection and how it interfaces w/ your phono stage...

Ayre actually has simple diagrams of what to hook where for a XLR phono cable...
smotyka
62 posts
 
I also went to a fully balanced phono into a BAT P10 that I had upgraded to balanced inputs.

I then had a pair of Cardas Golden reference XLR cables reterminated so that the ends going into the table became rca. Note that the RCA (-) inputs on my table, a Well Tempered reference are not grounded. I then ran a separate ground wire from the rca mounting bracket (which has a wire connected to the tonearm) to the phono stage.

Steve
mrowlands
54 posts
 
The last time I checked (about 2 years ago), the folks at www.originlive.com would special order their tonearms with balanced cables. I've heard that there can be a small but definite improvement (blacker background, possibly better dynamics) by going balanced; of course maybe it's system/hearing dependent. I plan to try it when funds permit. Let us know what you do.

Mike R.
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