XLR out on a tuner?

Based on the Denon specs sheet, output voltage is the same regardless of the output selected. That’s not usually the case if the XLR outputs derive from a balanced circuit. Compare with the MD tuners having balanced XLR outs vs their RCA outs. The balanced outs are always 2x the voltage. 

Thanks. I did not know how to tell from the specs. Sounds like a gimmick then. Certainly will not buy XLR cables. Shame that Denon would resort to that sort of bait-and-switch.

I guess if you just happened to have XLR cables lying around and no RCA cables it would actually be a 'feature'.

Anyway, can't wait for it to get here. I still enjoy listening to the radio. Even though I'm not real into classical we have a superb classical station here well worth listening to.

As Cleeds said, if they used an op-amp on the XLR outputs to “split” the signal for balanced output, then each signal conductor would carry 1/2 the voltage. So that likely explains the equivalent voltage outputs from both balanced and single-ended outputs. (Or it could be simply a typographical error in their specs, and the balanced outs are rated with an higher voltage.)

Based on the Denon specs sheet, output voltage is the same regardless of the output selected.

Dan (Celander), where do you see that? What I see here is simply a reference to "output voltage 500mV / 2.2 kΩ." I would not infer from that that the balanced and unbalanced output voltages are the same; it is quite possible that the spec applies to one of the two outputs (probably the RCA output, given the 500 mv amplitude), with the voltage of the other output not being indicated. Also, while as you said balanced output voltages are commonly stated to be twice as great as unbalanced output voltages, with the balanced output voltages being implicitly defined as the instantaneous voltage difference between the two signals in a balanced signal pair, I’ve seen a number of instances over the years in which balanced output voltages (and also impedances) have been defined on the basis of each of the two signals in a balanced signal pair. As confirmed by John Atkinson’s measurements of some components that have been published in Stereophile.

Also, as I alluded to earlier, pro equipment is usually designed to accept and to supply balanced pairs of signals.

... if they used an op-amp on the XLR outputs to “split” the signal for balanced output, then each signal conductor would carry 1/2 the voltage.

No, that is not true. If an op amp is used to generate one of the two signals in a balanced signal pair by simply inverting the other signal, as is done in many designs, the "split" (and it is not really a split) would not result in anything more than a miniscule change in the amplitude of either signal.

Regards,

-- Al