My path of discovery with Xlr's vs. Rca's to my A21 was the XLR's where a more refined and taller image and increased separation between instruments, plus a lower noise floor. Last year I added a HFT Silver Star fuse for the main ac line. The cables used for the comparisons at the time where AQ's Columbia XLR & RCA I then switched those out for Morrow Audio's MA3 XLR's which where a better synergistic match in my setup to reveal the A21's musical prowess!
Cable conundrum: Parasound A21 with RCA AND XLR
Ok, hope someone can give me a lesson. I recently aquired a Sonic Frontiers Line 2 preamp with both unbalanced and balanced outputs. First I hooked up my Audio Metallurgy GA-0 XLR's to my A21 amp, and I was not pleased with the sound. No depth, soundstage was choked. (gain was adjusted) I then connected my Synergistic Res RCA's to the outputs after disconnecting the XLR's. still not that pleased with what I thought was an upgrade.
In an accidental discovery, I reconnected the XLR's to the preamp WITHOUT ever disconnecting the RCA's. BLAMMO!! What sound I got! almost 5.1-like wide soundstage, reach-in depth, and the detail...let's just say i heard things from my CD's I never heard before.
So...how can this be? Both outputs from the preamp go to both inputs at the amp (balanced and unbalanced). Parasound tells me this is not a detriment to the amp. But I thought you could only use one or the other. Not both at the same time.
Any explanation?
In an accidental discovery, I reconnected the XLR's to the preamp WITHOUT ever disconnecting the RCA's. BLAMMO!! What sound I got! almost 5.1-like wide soundstage, reach-in depth, and the detail...let's just say i heard things from my CD's I never heard before.
So...how can this be? Both outputs from the preamp go to both inputs at the amp (balanced and unbalanced). Parasound tells me this is not a detriment to the amp. But I thought you could only use one or the other. Not both at the same time.
Any explanation?