2. analog
  3. 194847-130193

which turntable or how to convert to balanced phono setup?

Im a total noob with vinyl please bear with me,

I just purchased a b stock Teac PE 505 balanced phono preamp to replace a buggy Gold Note PH5

im looking for a turntable upgrade to run balanced  with an mc cart

so aside from those tables that have xlrs outs,

is it just a matter of finding a din to xlr tone arm cable?  or is there more to it?

I dont understand the differences between tables like mine that have RCA outs (technics 1200 gr2)

and those with "tone arm" cables

 

 

 

audiocanada

Showing 3 responses by dover

dover
2,337 posts
 

@audiocanada 

is it just a matter of finding a din to xlr tone arm cable?  

The answer to your question is yes.

If the tonearm has a 5 pin DIN output all you should need would be a DIN to XLR phono cable.

You can ignore all the other piffle waffle.

 

 

dover
2,337 posts
 

Here we go again. That is mistaken. He doesn’t need an XLR cable at all for balanced operation in his system:

cleeds

... you can use either the RCA or XLR connectors on the Teac PE 505’s inputs and get the same result.

There is nothing "magic" about an XLR connector.

Oh, if you want magic you are on the wrong forum, try https://www.themagiciansforum.com

On the other hand here are the experiences of some real Teac PE-505 users re the XLR inputs vs the RCA inputs with moving coils -

Regarding the fully balanced operation for MC only, that is my understanding too. But for me it is a non issue since I am using it with a LOMC via balanced connection. Since my TT has single ended RCA outputs but the ground is isolated, I fabricated a custom RCA to XLR cable using Neutrik connectors & Mogami cable. I configured the cable as recommended in the user manual namely true fully balanced. I did it DIY because I could not find any commercially made where I could confirm it was configured properly; most have the XLR ground pin connected to the RCA negative pin. The difference in noise floor is not night and day but it is significant enough that I prefer RCA-XLR isolated way more than with RCA-RCA; it is just that much more quieter. 

I finally got around to trying the XLR balanced inputs. Wow. I had to do some soldering but the pin outs are in the manual. Oh my does this ever eliminate noise. 

 

cc @audiocanada 

 

dover
2,337 posts
 

I just wanted him to understand that with his Teac phono preamp he'd get the same result whether using RCA or XLR connectors.

That's guesswork on your part. You said you've never heard it. Why do you post speculative brouhaha about something you've never heard.

As I posted above actual users of the PE505 have found using their moving coil cartridges the xlr inputs results in significantly audible improvements over the same cartridge into the RCA inputs - contradicting your speculative post above.

The Audio Reference phono stage you refer to is quite different to what's being discussed here. Personally, I rate them 3rd class - crass, noisy and fragile compared to top units available today.

 

 

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