Balanced vs RCA Interconnects


I had the opportunity today to compare some interconnects while trying ( and failing ) to accomplish
a very different task. I hooked up a pair of Nordost Red
Dawn RCA int. at the same time as a pair of Homegrown audio Silver Super int. BAL and heard no difference when switching back and forth, other than the short silent period for the switch to go through. Equipment is ML383 Int. Amp, Cary CD303 and B&W Nautilus 805 speakers. The sound is excellent with both. I don't know what I expected, but I guess i expected something different...other than just price.
Any comments would be appreciated.
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Showing 1 response by awdeeofyle

As Cornfedboy suggests there’s more to it than “balanced or not”, or “which IC sounds good/better?” ...It’s a matter of how the component you are connecting was engineered to be operated. For example certain designs such as BAT or Sim Audio are fully balanced (circuit) designs that are intended to be operated with balanced connections. When configured in this manner such components can offer much greater resolution. I suspect that the only reason that companies such as these include RCA terminations is because they HAVE to (for the sake of flexibility). ...Then there are other companies who offer components with balanced connection options merely because it is expected - they are high caliber components, and the owner might want to run very long IC’s. Meanwhile these same components might have been engineered to sound best running single ended. Like so many other aspects of audio its all so very personal. Frequently compromises are necessary in order that we might own that incredible piece of gear we lust after. ...No matter that it might not be best suited to our system or physical circumstances.