Wow, 85 db is very loud. No wonder my wife is always yelling at me. But going back to cables, if both the preamp and power amps are fully balanced you can use inexpensive balanced cables. Mogami or something similar for no more than a couple hundred bucks. For what your investing in the amp seems like a drop in the bucket. But then again I’m good at spending other people’s money.
Audio Research reference amplifiers used with RCA IC`s and unbalanced preamplifiers
I am considering purchasing used audio research reference amplifiers either 150se or 75 SE. My question is this
As these amplifiers are fully balanced and don't have an RCA input, can I use RCA interconnects with a conversion plug from RCA to balanced at the amplifier input and will it work in my system?
I don't have any balanced interconnects and don't want to go through the extra expense. Only one of my three preamplifiers has an XLR output and there's nothing indicating the preamplifier is fully balanced.
I find this balanced/ unbalanced criteria confusing.