Possible impedance matching issue with subwoofer?

Hi Granny,
Yep, this is another example of poorly executed balanced circuits that do not meet the balanced specs set by the recording industry but not implemented correctly by home audio. The seeming inability of the home audio and theater industry to conform to those standards is the cause for this problem. And yep, it sure does affect the sound quality of many fine components and has probably caused many bad reviews of products based on the reviewers who don't account for the problem. A true balanced circuit prevents these problems while single ended technology is rife with incompatabilities. Burson Audio makes a single ended buffer available in the USA that would solve the problem and is reported to work very well Unfortunately they don't make the a balanced buffer any more for reasons they only know. Krell with their CAST system is one of the few manufacturers who addressed this problem and essentially implemented a balanced system with their own proprietary connector. As for as I know Atmosphere is the only tube builder that has designed and uses a balanced circuit with tubes, in fact they own a patent for their design. It apparently is much easier to build solid state balanced circuits but the home audio industry does not design for this all the time either. There is apparently much more involved in designing a balanced circuit than just adding a balanced connector to the equipment's design. But if all the manufacturers would conform to the standards set by the music industry impedence mismatches between our equipment would be a thing of the past.

Hi All,
While it is true that many manufacturers including ARC do make a balanced designed preamp, they don't conform to the balanced spec. (I'm sure this has a name, I'm not aware of it.) But I was having a similar problem as Grannyring between my ARC REf 3 and my Xilica Crossover. I made a quick call to ARC to see is my suspicions of incompatability were correct. The tech at ARC said, there is no point in even trying to get the two to work together that the ARC preamps could not be configured to work with low impedence input and outputs because of the circuit design. His quick less than two minute explanation was sell your ARC unit and don't purchase another unless the equipment you use are compatible with the ARC design.
A subsequent conversation with the guys from Atamasphere provided me with much of the explanations I outlined above but I did leave out all the technical reasons why tube preamp designs do not conform to the balanced standard that the music industry uses today which prevents impedence matches between equipment. The audio industry has adopted the balanced connector part of the equation and the cables are built correctly by the cable guys, it is the electronics guys who are at fault.
If all audio equipment was built to the balanced specs the music industry uses, we would not have these issues of impedence mismatching. And, I believe the music industry does successfully mix tube gear with solid state with no problems.
Not to sound like I'm picking on the tube manufacturers alone, but shame on the subwoofer guys for not dealing with this problem in their designs as well. If one is going to design products with class D amplifier circuits, then care should be taken to raise the impedence so that it matches so that it conforms with an industry standard as well. One wonders how many subwoofers have received bad reviews or that have had unhappy customers because of an impedence mismatch, and not the design and construction of the woofer itself.