Balanced or Unbalanced?

"... Magazines seem reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them- the majority of manufacturers are still in the dark ages selling unbalanced gear..."

Unfair for to magazines and to manufacturers. See:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/manufacture/0708/index.html

Here, at least one aspect of balanced approach is discussed - power handling.

Another, from Spectron Audio web site:

"...balanced mode of operation doubles the slew rate and bandwidth by virtue of the out of phase transmission. This also suppresses the noise and buzz originated upstream from the amplifier. The other major advantage of mono balanced mode in Spectron amplifiers is that transmission of both positive and negative signals (in each amplifier) is maintained separately from the amplifier's input to the speakers binding posts. Assuming that the signal path electronics are matched, all of the intrinsic amplifier distortions arrive at the speakers with practically identical amplitude but with opposed polarity and essentially cancel each other. The result is a largely noise and distortion free sound transmission, leading to a spectacular improvement in three-dimensionality and resolution of detail in the music"

Finally, fully balanced electronics will cost you nearly twice then unbalanced of partially balanced

All The Best
Rafael

Ralph(atmasphere); if you pop your head back into this thread do you still like the Mogami cable for balanced use?

Spoke to Ralph just this week and he indeed does like the Mogami Neglex. I'll be trying it myself.

07-30-08: Dcstep
Atamasphere, are you saying that my Rowland is NOT truly balanced?? That would surprise me greatly, since Rowland is reputed to be one of the first to adopt a balanced configuration in consumer electronics.

Well, they sure don't make that clear, one way or the other, anywhere on their website or within specific product spec sheets.

Under "Technology" they provide a couple spec sheets from Jensen Transformers on the benefit of input transformers, so it is safe to bet they use those. But, there is absolutely no statement as to whether Rowland uses fully balanced or differential circuity in the preamplifier stages.

I would think that if they they do, they would simply state it as such. But, who knows, maybe they're just modest.

I'm pretty sure Rowland uses differential circuits :) His was one of the first fully differential preamps to follow after ours.

The balanced line system *was* devised to reduce or eliminate interconnect cable differences and problems, but that is not to say that the effects of the cable will be inaudible. It *does* say that they will be *far less* audible that with single ended. However if you are running a preamplifier that has a very low output impedance, this will reduce the effect that even a single-ended cable has on the system. Its a lot harder to do though, with balanced its easier.

Some caveats: some balanced setups (including early balanced Rowland preamps) use(d) dual RCA jacks to execute balanced operation, which makes things trickier. XLRs are the preferred means, having superior contact mechanisms and also keeping the opposing signals in the same vicinity, which reduces noise pickup. Thats why we went with XLRs for the beginning, in a effort to prevent the goal of the design from be subverted. There is no question that that also delayed market acceptance because you had to use a different cable. With the dual-RCA setups, you could run a pair of RCA cables so you didn't have to have a different cable, just more, but that is a far cry from how the standard is set up.

I can't speak to the output impedance of Rowland preamps, but owing to the fact that they are solid state and that Jeff knows his circuits, I am confident that the output impedance is low.

I've used Mogomi cables for years, and compared them to a lot of much more expensive cables with no worries or regrets. I do hear differences, but they are always subtle and while some high end cables are audibly better, the difference is so slight that until now, I would never have written home about them. For a difference of $4000 I can get the same effect just by changing a couple of $25 tubes.

Not having to use an expensive interconnect and being able to run it a long way is a boon. I have the equipment stand 3 feet from my listening chair. A 25-foot run goes to the amps, which are by the speakers, with speaker cables as short as I can get them (about 4 feet; the speaker terminal are up high on the cabinets). I use more exotic cables elsewhere in the system, as not all the other components have the same ability to control the cables as the preamp does, and some are single-ended (this is not a problem for a balanced preamp BTW).

I hope this makes my position more clear.