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Balanced or Unbalanced?

Hi-end should be about as few compromises as one's budget will allow.

It's a shame (or a conspiracy) that hi-end mags do not educate us on the basics, such as unbalanced circuit designs vs differentially balanced designs and XLR connectors/connections vs XLR connectors/connections and their relative impact on music playback. Why do I mention "conspiracy"? Magazines seem reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them- the majority of manufacturers are still in the dark ages selling unbalanced gear. Why? It seems you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Hi-end roots are based in unbalanced designs. When the few differentially balanced designs (XLR) first appeared on the market, they were too expensive for most of us. Today, several manufacturers offer XLR designs that are competitively priced with unbalanced designs.

Think about it, sharing the L/R signal on circuit boards and through parts cannot be a good thing. Adding insult to injury is the RCA connector. A system is only as good as it's weakest link and this is the RCA connection. In response, several manufacturers have improved the RCA connector, but to what ultimate result? You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.

Reviewers (and I blame this on editors) typically allow balanced components to be reviewed within the confines of an unbalanced system. See The Absolute Sound August issue review of the Raysonic 168. Consequently, we are not informed on the components' ultimate sonic value.

If you are on a quest for best sound, begin to replace your RCA based components with differentially balanced. Most will accommodate RCAs or just buy RCA/XLR adapters until you fully transition.
tweak1

Showing 2 responses by shadorne

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shadorne
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I was told each unit sounded better using bal I/C but the amount of change was a surprise!! It was as if the S/E had been choking the system down!!

Such a huge performance improvement is unusual - perhaps you had a problem with noise from a ground loop with RCA. Did you carefully check signal levels - sometimes a higher signal or higher volume is normally immediately perceived as a sound improvement (particularly bass is what blossoms at higher volumes due to the way our hearing works...)

Certainly I highly recommend XLR as it means less hassle/problems - better sound more reliably and almost always a lower noise floor - however I would not claim XLR sounds dramatically better than a good working RCA connection - it should sound the same if gear is working properly and no noise/ground loop issues.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
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For an unrelated reason I bought a used set(4) of AQ Sorbogel Big Feet and put them under the Calypso just to hear what would happen. The "fuzz" at the peak of the notes disappeared, the notes were clean/clear!!

I keep saying this on many threads. Tubes are microphonic! They really ought to be kept in a separate room/area and away from the noise in the listening room. This is what Pink Floyd does and surely we can respect them for knowing what should be done soundwise to get the most from the great sound of tubes.

It is entirely possible (in your previous observations) that the different XLR cables changed the way the components resonated with the sound in the air in your room or transmitted from your speakers to the floor and up your component stand.

A much heavier flexible XLR cable (compared to RCA) might logically have a dampening effect in much the same way as if you place your hand on something. However, now that you have resolved most vibration issues then the difference from RCA to XLR has become far more subtle - as it should when everytyhing is working properly.
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