Classe owners: balanced vs. unbalanced?

I have a CA 301. When I first got the system, I noticed a bit of low level noise/hum. At first, I thought it was the tubes in the ARC LS16 pre-amp, so I switched them out. Then, I put in a dedicated line. Still had hum. I called up the dealer, asking about balanced IC's. His opinion was that my 1 meter runs probably would NOT benifit from balanced operation, but why not try it. I went over and borrowed some old demo AudioQuest diamond XLRs. The difference was dramatic, the noise was cut so low that I have to put my ear to the speaker to hear it now. (Not my usual listening position;)

I bought the diamonds, then bought another pair here on Audiogon for the run between the CDP and the preamp. All balanced now.

The negative impact was the additional gain of the classe 301 in the balanced mode. My pre-amp volume position dropped in half. Generaly it is recommended to take as much voltage gain as early on for improved signal to noise ratio. However, I think that the inherent noise cancellation of the balanced mode outweighs the reduced SN ratio in my system.

I recommend that you try it, and let your ears make the decision.

I am using a Classe CA-151 amp to Classe SSP-25 preamp/processor. I orig. had it set-up as SE, then I switched to Balanced and heard a wonderful difference.
Lower noise floor, better bottom end. I am using the Purist Audio Venustas Balanced IC. The Venustas is an amazing cable!!!!

I would choose longer speaker runs. Lots can happen with low level signals in interconnects. Running balanced is better. I have 2 CA300's and when running balanced, noise is less. But the real improvement is achieved when running them bridged (mono). That smooth tube sound that Classe is known for is even more appearent when in bringed mode. It's not subtle!
Need a pair of Classe CA 300's? I bought a pair of 400's and don't need the 3's anymore.

It's a WAF issue. My choice is either long interconnects or long speaker wires. I can probably get it down to 20-21', depending how I run the wire.

Thanks for all the great advice!

p.s. does anyone know if the CP-35/CA-200/1 have "fully balanced circuitry?"

I agree with Mitch2!
Especially with that Long of a Cable run - Balanced is the way to go.
But WOW - thats quite a Long Run - is it Absolutely nessessary??
Anyway to avoid that Long Run ?

My understanding is that only the very newest Classe' amps have full balanced circuitry, and I believe the CA-200 does not. That said, I used my Classe' DR-25 (250wpc) in balanced mode and liked it better than unbalanced, in part because my preamp at the time was fully balanced, and so the whole system sounded better that way. In your case, I would say the Classe' may not sound significantly better in balanced mode, but would certainly not sound worse. Due to the length of your cable run, I would recommend using the balanced mode.

I use 2 Classe' CA-201 Amps ( as monoblocks ). I have not expermented with bal/unbal. on these amps but have on others. Definitely, as a rule, go Balanced all the way ( as long as the Components are built on True Balanced Circuitry - some are NOT ). It Reduces the "noise floor" with a Blacker Background, hence, more Musical Detail !

I have older classe equipment and think it works very well balanced. For a 25 foot run I would almost certainly select balanced--that's really very long to try to run single ended.