Balanced XLR vs RCA for phono stage

Thanks. Then a completely different application and not relevant.

High end audio designers are aware of standards. They will follow them when it results in the best sound. Frequently standards have large compromises embedded in them and may not be worth following to achieve the best result. There are always trade-offs.

I just have to comment on the article’s introduction: “…continual and perpetual difficulty of hooking up audio equipment without suffering through all sorts of bizarre noises, hums, buzzes, whistles, etc….”.

In forty years of using single ended interconnects I have never experienced any of these symptoms, ever. I tested dozens of interconnects and components over that time.

I’m not refuting the paper. I’m just saying it is overstating the problem.

I went through a major upgrade a few years ago and did an A/B comparison on my audio equipment and found virtually no sonic benefit, but the cost was 2x to go to XLR. So for me that was $5K —> $10K. I had to think long and hard about spending $5K for no sonic improvement. In the end, I went ahead and did it. It gives me peace of mind, and XLR are becoming much more common… and I can afford it. if I was younger and was stretching to get the very best components I could afford… I would have just stuck with RCA… and upgraded when I could afford it.

@tokushi 

Nice write up.