Please explain what balanced out puts are.

Thanks to all for taking the time to answer my question.

There's some incorrect information in one of the posts above and I'll also attempt to clarify situations where balanced interconnects might be useful.

First, in a truly balanced circuit with XLR connectors, there is one common/shield pin, a positive pin, and a negative pin. In this setup the electrical audio signal is allowed to swing above and below common and undesired signals like hum and other common mode noise tend to cancel. It is true that balanced interconnects can be beneficial for long cable runs because long cables are prone to picking up more noise than short cables and balanced cables and circuits tend to cancel the effects of this common mode noise. But even with short cable runs, balanced interconnects may help to minimize the effects of ground loop induced hum or noise. In practical terms this basically means, if you hear a slight buzz or hum in your system, balanced interconnects may help to minimize or eliminate this noise. Other than being inherently quieter than unbalanced (RCA) interconnects, it is debatable whether there is any sonic benefit to using balanced (XLR) vs unbalanced (RCA) interconnects.

Microphonics are basically the effects of vibration on the equipment affecting the sound produced by the equipment. No interconnect will have an effect on this as the cables in your system do not contribute to or minimize microphonics.

A balanced connection has two signals and one ground. The American Standard: Pin 1 is GROUND; Pin 2 is the COLD (negative) out of phase signal; Pin 3 is the HOT (positive) in phase signal. In the European Standard balanced connection, Pin 2 is HOT and Pin 3 is COLD. When mating different brands of equipment it's considered preferable to preserve signal phase, hot to hot and cold to cold.

Th outputs of some balanced circuits boast a summing of the balanced signals when they are operated with a single ended RCA connection. Others simply disconnect one phase.

Other than its noise cancelling properties, some listeners report a more 'floaty' quality to the sound of a balanced setup. DAC's and preamps often offer double the voltage output when balanced compared to single ended. Using a balanced DAC can result in a lot of 'free gain' for a preamp but can also limit the range of a preamp's volume control. Let your ears and pocketbook be your guide.

I don't think the work "balanced" in your amp literature is referring to outputs as XLR versus RCA cables. If you read the literature for Blue Circle or Sim Moon solid state amps, they both say they are "pure solid state DC coupled true balanced design". I am not an amplifier expert, so I don't know what that means other than they are not referring to balanced output cable connections.

........I'd just add to Jfrech's comments that XLR is the type of connector that balanced outputs/inputs uses. RCA connectors (the most common kind) are the kind "single ended" outputs/inputs use.

The XLR inputs you see on your amp would be inputs, not outputs. The amps outputs connect the amp to the speaker and are often "five way" so that you can use many different kinds of speaker cable terminations, ie spades, bananas, bare wire etc. There is no agreement as to which is best sonically, but if you need long inter-connects, ie say more than 20 ft. or so, XLR is considered preferrable. I use (and prefer) RCA. Good Luck. Craig

Warren,

Tell us exactly which amp you have. You'll get a faster answer that way...

Daniel

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.

Balanced outputs in theory lower the noise floor. You can buy xlr to rca adapters to mix n match. Balanced has a hot, negative, and separate ground. RCA (or single ended) has a hot and the ground and negative are combined.

BTW, usually the amp will have balanced inputs...the only output is to the speaker...

A lot of the best equipment like BAT, ARC, Levinson, others use them. But, balanced doesn't always mean better.