Should I switch to a preamp with balanced outputs


Hello all,
I'm just looking for opinions here. I recently acquired a Belles 350a power amplifier from my dad. I am currently running a Conrad Johnson PV-7 preamp. I wondering if it would be a huge benefit to switch my preamp to one with balanced outputs. I really love the CJ's sound with the tubes I am running in it plus it has a killer phono stage. My budget for a new preamp would be around $700.00. Any recommendations? The amp/preamp combo sounds great to me (which I know is the most important thing). Would the sound be dramatically improved with balanced interconnects?
I've never used balanced IC's so I'm not sure if I'm missing anything.
Thanks for any input.
Skipper320
skipper320

Showing 1 response by atmasphere

@skipper320 

If your amplifier has balanced input circuitry or is fully balanced, it will be lower distortion if provided with a balanced source.

The balanced line system was devised for several reasons and one of those reasons is to eliminate interconnect cable artifact. If you've ever heard one cable sound better than another then you know what I'm talking about.


To achieve this the preamp must support the balanced line standard. This is a rarity in home audio. There are a lot of balanced preamps, but very few of them support the standard (a.k.a AES48). If the standard is not supported then you will hear artifacts from the cables; this is why there is the balanced vs single ended cable thing going as we see in this thread. If everything supported the standard, there would be no argument: balanced line would simply be better and that would be the end of it.

So it is worth a try.