Diving into balanced


Hi everyone. I’m making the jump to separates and as such am thinking that balanced is the way to go (unless people here say otherwise). If my preamp sits exactly 12" above my amp would you suggest a .5m balanced cable or longer? It seems like it should work fine but i’m not familiar enough with the ends to be sure.

Looking to hear from everyone’s experiences. Thanks!

mtbiker29

Showing 1 response by bimmerlover

To me the decision is also dependent on what sources you have in your system, and if they are providing balanced connections or not.

For example my Moon 310 LP phono stage provides 6db more s/n ratio using a balanced connection to the preamp than if I use a single-ended connection.

To me, that is significant given that it’s upstream (close to my turntable source), so it made all sense in the world for me to use a balanced XLR connection, and then it felt natural go for the same between the preamp to the amp (and from the streamer/DAC to the preamp).

Also, with separates and a large number of power cables that by necessity- at least in my case - runs from each separate and it essentially practically impossible to keep away from the interconnects, balanced interconnects feels like the right way to go.

For me, that is.