New Cable Help-Balanced or Single Ended


Hello all,
I am finally getting my system to a point where it sounds right for me, and need to settle in on some interconnects. Based on the many positive comments I have read, I plan to try HGA Silver Lace. I will be comming out of a SF Assemblage DAC 3.0 to an Adcom GFP 750 then to a Classe DR25. The Classe drives Alon V MkII's with woofer upgrade. The Adcom has also had Stan Warren's black gate cap upgrade. Reviews say the Adcom sounds "slightly" better when run balanced. My question is, will this system sound better with balanced interconnects or single ended? I like hearing the details, but definitely not at the expense of harshness, grain, or a thin sound. Vocals are important, as is solid bass. I listen to rock (not metal), blues, and a bit of jazz. BTY, tri-wired to speakers with 2 individual runs of DH Labs Q10 (to woofer and mids) and a run of T14 to tweeter. Thanks for your help. Tim
mitch2

Showing 2 responses by ivanj

If the source DAC has balanced outputs and the DR25 has balanced circuits it will sound much better, IMHO, especially if you are in a "noise rich" environment. I'm not, and it sounds better than SE. IMHO. The bablnced input also gives more gain and has a better impedence profile on the 750.
The DR25 is a very good amplifier. Does the DR25 have balanced (XLR) inputs? You can also run all balanced into the preamp, then simply RCA out of the preamp. The benefit here is that you get 6db greater gain before you hit the input circuitry of the amp, as well as running the other components balanced, taking advantage of differential circuits. There may also be some i/o impedance benfits. As far as thinness goes, it must be the cables or some other cause. All things being equal, I have never noticed a thinness in the sound of a balanced set up. Contact me by email if you want to discuss further.