Please explain what balanced out puts are.


Sorry guys but I am not an audiphile and I need to be educated. I just bought an amp that has "balanced outputs" Does it matter whether or not the preamp has them? Also, in laymans terms what are balanced inputs/outputs and how do they affect sound quality when listening to music. Many thanks.
warren2828

Showing 1 response by marakanetz

Balanced interconnects and inputs/outputs have two ground wires that are out of phase and one signal wire. That configuration allowes to get rid of microphonics and eliminates a reactance of the interconnect making it newtral.
On the best case it's great to use either balanced or unbalanced connections on your components. Worse case if you have both. You can also use adapters for connecting non-balanced components with balanced.
Most audiophiles will say that balanced interconnects are more quiet and unbalanced ones are more revealing and transperent.
IMO when the relatively short lengths of interconnects between components upto 1.5 meters are used it doesn't make any difference(you might check it with same brand using balanced and unbalanced versions). If you realy indend to use a long runs of interconnects, you might consider upgrading your component(s) to a balanced version if such upgrade is available by manufacturer.