Tube Pre-amp BAT, ARC, EAR, Sonic Frontiers

I got rid of the Line 2. My P8i drives BAT monoblocks directly via its balanced outputs and a pair of 3m interconnects.

Snarkonmars, what I meant was that some products have an XLR connection when the internal circuitry is single-ended. There is no advantage to the connector; the advantage lies in the topography.

BTW any balanced preamp will convert a single-ended signal to balanced without issue or degradation, as part of the normal operation of the preamp. We've not been providing single-ended connections for the most part (although we have always had 2 single-ended line inputs) in an effort to convince the user to hook things up right and get the most out of the preamp as a result (I'm sure that's why BAT has does it that way too). That's why we've always had a balanced input for the phono (in fact we were the first to offer that feature), as it is a balanced source anyway.

What have you bought?

What do you listen now?

I was auditioning Magnepan 3.6 to buy. The place was an ARC dealer. I took my Sonic Frontiers Line 3 modified by Chris at the Parts Connection,over $2000.00 mod, sounds better than the ARC LS25 latest. This was using ARCs equipment. I wanted to compare the ref 3 but they had sold it. I really like my Line 3. I also have the Sonic Frontiers Power 3 mono amps. They have 28 tubes so it nice to just call Chris when you need something. He is easy to deal with.