this may be a better XLR splitter than the ProCo, if you decide to go that way:
Showing 4 responses by auxinput
I don't know much about tube preamps because most of what I have dealt with are solid-state preamps and processors. I had seen some DACs and preamps that do have separate actual output circuits for XLR and RCA, however, they are all opamp-based and it's really easy and cheap to just plop in another opamp to drive RCA outputs (and just chain them from the same input stage). In the case of discrete circuits or tube preamps, the manufacturer will have to design and allocate space for an entirely separate tube output stage (in the case of discrete, this could mean another 5" x 5" section of the board or more). This is definitely expensive for the manufacturers to support a situation that might happen 5% of the time. Al may be correct in his statement. That being said, you're right in the sense that ARC (and BAT now that I look) do have multiple XLR outputs. |
When I was researching the 8802a a while back, I could not absolutely determine if the internal circuits were fully "differential balanced". A piece of equipment could have a true balanced output that is not differential - it depends on how the circuit is implemented. That being said, looking at a detailed pic of the 8802A fully discrete HDAM module (below), I could definitely believe that each module has 2 analog circuits (which would make a truly balanced differential circuit). The HDAM module looks to have a 9-pin connector to the main board, so there are enough pins to support 2 circuits. The 8802A has 13 of these modules, so 2 of the XLR outputs are lacking these circuits (maybe the subwoofer output?). Each module has a couple of 220uf caps along with smaller 22uf caps to power the circuit -- Marantz did an excellent job of designing this 8802 and I would think it's an excellent piece (until you start comparing it to stuff like the Krell). http://www.schwartzpr.de/de/newsroom/Marantz/MarantzAV8802HDAMBoards.jpg |
I did some more thinking on this thread. @eniac26 - wow, I have never seen a normal 2-channel preamp that has more than one "active" XLR output. That Classe CP-800 is pretty unique in this sense! @mgould - Looking at your Marantz 8802A, it actually appears that there is a configuration that allows you to use two outputs for a bi-amp situation. If you go to pages 233 and 237 of the 8802A manual, you can see that you can change the Amp Assign Mode to "9.1ch (Bi-Amp)". It will allow to you select one of three different channels to use as the "bi-amp" channel (either "Front Wide", "Height1" or "Surround Back"). http://us.marantz.com/DocumentMaster/US/AV8802AU_ENG_CD-ROM_UG_v01A_New.pdf |