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Coherence II: balanced or single-ended?

I have a Rowland Coherence II preamp that I run single-ended via XLR to RCA convertors into monoblocks that have only single-ended inputs. Has anyone out there with the Rowland Coherence or Synergy preamps carefully compared their performance in balanced vs. single-ended mode to determine whether these preamps change character depending upon which way they are run? I don't have a balanced amp on hand to try myself.

The sound of some truly balanced components changes quite audibly depending upon whether they are run single-ended or balanced, and I would like to know if this preamp is one of them.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
raquel

Showing 1 response by vader007

vader007
121 posts
 
Raquel,

Wow, let me take a stab at this.
A truley balanced design will sound better than a non differential design whether it is run in singel ended or
balanced configuration, simply because the circutry is is
equal in either mode from input to output, thus rejecting
noise and such. Being fully balanced and runnung with the
XLR connections will yet improve the sound further, boost the signal by 6db, and and reject more noise. (in theory)
I have fully balanced equipment from source to amp and notice a difference when using all balanced cables.
Yes this is after level matching. Just by switching one component to single ended (cd to pre) I hear a difference.
Hope this helps.
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