I worked at a dealership and sold the gear for 4 years.I don't think they ever made a product that was't true balanced through and though.A lot of folks don't know the difference and when they see XLR outputs on a Pre-amp or CD player or inputs on an amp they think that the circuts within are ture balanced.The appearance on a CD player where the player does not have actual differentiated circut paths is a marketing rip off since one expects the player to be located next to the pre-amp.You would need to ask to manufacturer and have them honest or see shematic to find out.To have them on the pre out or the in of the amp wihout being balanced is actaully usefull because it would allows an otherwise unbalanced system to use a long length of of XLR wire to go form control center to power amp located near speaker perhaps in multi amp house wide system or in an optimal audiophile rig an system with the amps being located near the speaker with the speaker wires having the shortest run possible for least distortion since the XLR wires deliver the the sound over the long run wihtout distotion (I am writting all of this which you probably for the know for neophyte who doesen't even know that a XLR is a three pronged audio cable that instead of a single male "prong" has thre for positive,negative and ground).But as Sterophile Editor Hartley (what's the guys first name?I am spacing) says's that goig from unbalanced to balanced to unlanced can do more harm than good.But one might wonder as I did when I first saw Pre's with no XLR inputs but did have XLR output and my Cat like quickness led me to deduce that it wasn't like the others that had both in and out it was explained to me what I have just explained above.So yes the Krell is balanced.And some small urchin in some dimmly lit room in some back water has just learned that when he becomes a magnate of some sort he will want to take host fist hi end rig home and even if it is all hooked up with RCA cables from sources to his or her pre-amp going once from unbalanced to balanced should not negatively effect his or her sound and suing short speaker wire legnths should produce optimal sound.But going back and forth from say CD to Jitter Redducer to D/A to Pre to Router to Amp etc al back and forth going from balanced to unbalanbced can wack a system interms of phase and other nasties.He or she should try to get a meter and hook the system in phase and can sawp and reverse cables as needed.Keeping the circut paths consistent helps make this an easier task.If your CD player has a phase or your pre-amp has stereo/reverse mode you can compensate for what phase the recording be it Digital or LP was made.I think I have this right.If I have gotten wrong at the end please somebody come in to correct me.
Regards
Chazzbo
