BALANCED VS UNBALANCED

It's not just cable types, but you can safely ignore it. Avoid any cheap equipment that claims to be "balanced" and don't have anything to do with balanced.

Stick with single-ended connections - RCA plugs.

Regards,

Dlcockrum writes:

I find it puzzling that Metralla is so negative toward 'balanced' equipment, yet he has a BALANCED AUDIO TECHNOLOGY PREAMP that is fully differentially-balanced.

I'm not negative towards balanced equipment at all. My modified SACD player has a custom fully-balanced output stage built by Ric Schultz feeding the BAT, which as you pointed out, is also balanced.

I just felt, with the equipment the original poster listed and the price range he was aiming at, that he may be seduced by marketing speak regarding balanced cables and equipment at the lower end of the price range. You covered the pitfalls yourself.

Regards,