Davef, this quote is incorrect:
If you have ever heard a difference in audio interconnect cables, then you now know why balanced lines are not a joke- because they solve that problem if used properly! Further, it does not matter the length, 6 inches is easily enough to hear a difference, especially if there is a noisy environment. Further, the proper use of balanced lines and balanced operation offers lower distortion.
Tubes are often docked for having that ever-lovin 2nd harmonic, which is nice and rich sounding, but not neutral as it is distortion. That can be eliminated by employing balanced operation, resulting in more transparency and no loss of smoothness.
By running balanced lines, I can put my amps much closer to my speakers, allowing me to run shorter (thus better sounding) speaker cables, plus I can put my front end where I want it, rather than in between the speakers. The first thing I noticed in doing this was greater ability to make out vocals. It was not subtle.
Al, what I was describing in my post above is not a malfunction. The OP did have a malfunction, but it was coincidental and unrelated to the basic problem: distortion when driven by the CAT directly.
single ended gear sounds better than balanced gear; IMO,unless one is using their gear in a VERY highly corrupted noise environment or with VERY long runs of cable, balanced is nothing but a joke in high-end.
If you have ever heard a difference in audio interconnect cables, then you now know why balanced lines are not a joke- because they solve that problem if used properly! Further, it does not matter the length, 6 inches is easily enough to hear a difference, especially if there is a noisy environment. Further, the proper use of balanced lines and balanced operation offers lower distortion.
Tubes are often docked for having that ever-lovin 2nd harmonic, which is nice and rich sounding, but not neutral as it is distortion. That can be eliminated by employing balanced operation, resulting in more transparency and no loss of smoothness.
By running balanced lines, I can put my amps much closer to my speakers, allowing me to run shorter (thus better sounding) speaker cables, plus I can put my front end where I want it, rather than in between the speakers. The first thing I noticed in doing this was greater ability to make out vocals. It was not subtle.
Al, what I was describing in my post above is not a malfunction. The OP did have a malfunction, but it was coincidental and unrelated to the basic problem: distortion when driven by the CAT directly.
