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Balanced DAC — XLR or SE ouputs?

I'm at a crossroads. I am going to switch out my amp, but I'm worried about the whole balanced-thing.

I have the following:
- Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC
- Zu Omen speakers

Presently I'm using the balanced outputs of the DAC into a balanced amp (Schiit Ragnarok). The SE outputs sound good, but the XLRs better. 

What I'm considering is
1) Schiit Freya pre-amp + Schiit Aegir — allows both XLR-input and monoblocks in the future
2) Elekit TU-8600S kit — a 300b amp with only 1 SE-input

I read rave reviews about both. The Elekit seems to be in a much higher league sound quality wise, but also seems much more limited. I've even read people here use the Freya as a preamp for the Elekit amp. In short I'm given the impression that the Elekit is an amazing deal if you can bother building it.

What path would you go down?
Also, can you "keep the quality of the balanced outputs" if you use the elekit with a preamp? 
eyrepm

Showing 3 responses by tweak1

tweak1
3,685 posts
 
Just because a component has XLRs does not mean it is true balanced, so buyer beware (or aware).


True balanced is true high-end, and will reward you, if you have quality XLR cables. I have had many different mfgs XLR cables over the decades, none provided better bang for the buck then Wire World


hth
tweak1
3,685 posts
 
3 easy p's


that is not true when one’s kit is true balanced, but has rcas for convenience, as is often the case with unbalanced components that provide XLRs as a ’convenience’

Charlatans pretending to be hi-end audio.


SE, properly called unbalanced components using RCA connectors goes back to the earliest days of hifi, but the game changed decades ago. The lame component designers never embraced it, and the buyers were (and still are mostly ignorant).


There is no denying that true balanced kit trounces unbalanced IF/WHEN properly designed components AND quality XLR cabling is used
tweak1
3,685 posts
 
I have bought quite a few brands.

If your components are on the dark side (and you want more light) I have 2 pair of cryoed Surf Cable XLRs that I would sell


but with my very light system (but with  jet black and ginormous sound stage) I use 1.0M Wire World series 7 XLRs
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