balanced connection, better than single ended?


If you have gear that can do balanced & unbalanced connections which is preferable and why? I have read that balanced connections are better for long runs of cable otherwise a single ended connections are fine but not sure of this since I have yet to use this sort of connection. Also I read that some gear is not truly balanced in their circuitry thus this gear may not benefit from a balanced connection. I ask only because I'm recently buying an amp that has true balanced circuitry but now must find a preamp of the same.
phd

Showing 2 responses by onemug

>>> I ask only because I'm recently buying an amp that has true balanced circuitry but now must find a preamp of the same.

If you can find a "fully" balanced pre that you're happy with, that's great but I wouldn't limit myself to that only. I have a balanced amp and drove it with a balance preamp. Life was good. One day I demoed a preamp that only had rca's and it was much better than the balanced one.

Find the best preamp for your budget and don't worry if it's balanced or not. Go by the sound.
Phd,

"maybe I missed something but now I'm not sure. But I still want to see for myself".

That's the ticket. My ears are directly coupled to my pocketbook and by that I mean not going cheap, just getting some improvement for the money I spent and being aware of law of diminishing returns. That doesn't always happen when you buy theories or marketing.

I wonder what happens to a balanced preamp when the parts drift out of spec as they age. Single ended would age also but it's not relying on an identical twin aging at the same spec. I've never been able to get all 4 of the tires on my car to age at the same rate even with the rotate/balance ritual.