Preamps with balanced ins/outs and remote

Two thoughts: A McIntosh C2300 preamp. Also, if you ever go to a music server, you can use SmartGain (included with ripping software like dBPoweramp) to level the relative volume of various digital files.

In regard to the different sound of cables I think much of this has to do with their construction and material.

With regard to balanced operation, the statement is mostly false. However it is widely believed by many in high end audio. "Mostly" as in: as long as the cable has an adequate shield with a twisted pair within for the signal, then other construction details and materials will be rendered moot.

However as I mentioned before if the standards of the balanced line system are *not* observed then the above-quoted statement is true.

I've got a VAC preamp that is transformer coupled on the output, and one can switch inputs b/t single ended and balanced (I assume also using transformers). I am told that this is a fully balanced preamp. Does that really qualify? It is fully balanced on the ins and the outs, but I think it must be converted to SE while within the preamp (I'm guessing that). The output impedence is very very low, which is good.

How does splitting the signal (or combining a balanced signal) with an Xformer affect the sound relative to having the preamp use 2 seperate paths all the way through?

Again - I don't KNOW that this is teh way the VAC works, but I think it is..............

Thanks for all the input. Question! How can you determine if a preamp is truly balanced rather than just balanced connectors?

Do some research on the product before purchasing to make sure the product is what it claims to be.