Since I am about to purchase a fairly long pair of balanced cables, I read that thread with great interest. I’d love to be able to buy some well-made ‘basic’ xlr cables from an assembler like Blue Jeans Cable and not worry that I was short-changing my gear.
The cables would connect a PS Audio BHK preamp to PS Audio Stellar M 700 mono power amps. Is it possible to tell from the kind of information available on the PS Audio website whether or not the BHK preamp meets the criteria that Atmasphere describes? They specify output impedance at less than 100 ohms, which seems good, and there is repeated reference in their product description to “fully balanced” and “fully differential”. But their design permits use of single ended and balanced outputs at the same time, and Atmasphere seemed to be saying that a design that ‘met the standard’ would need to include a switch to go between balanced and single-ended outputs.
(According to Atmasphere, the crucial question is whether or not the preamp “puts signal current on the ground connection of the cable,” and, if both single-ended and balanced outputs can be used at the same time, then it is likely (certain?) that it does.)
The cables would connect a PS Audio BHK preamp to PS Audio Stellar M 700 mono power amps. Is it possible to tell from the kind of information available on the PS Audio website whether or not the BHK preamp meets the criteria that Atmasphere describes? They specify output impedance at less than 100 ohms, which seems good, and there is repeated reference in their product description to “fully balanced” and “fully differential”. But their design permits use of single ended and balanced outputs at the same time, and Atmasphere seemed to be saying that a design that ‘met the standard’ would need to include a switch to go between balanced and single-ended outputs.
(According to Atmasphere, the crucial question is whether or not the preamp “puts signal current on the ground connection of the cable,” and, if both single-ended and balanced outputs can be used at the same time, then it is likely (certain?) that it does.)