XLR or RCA cables?


There is lots of discussion about XLR being better than any RCA.

However,  people spend lots of money on expensive RCA connections. 

Do people also have better quality XLR cables and does it make a difference? 
vanson1

Showing 1 response by coralkong

I use a couple of different CD players (one with XLRs, (fully balanced), and a few with RCA outputs only.
I get much louder volume out of the balanced XLR connection player than the RCA connection players when they’re hooked up to my preamp. (I could compensate for this on the preamp, but just turn the volume up for the RCA-only players.)

I tried a pair of silver-alloy XLR cables, and the sound was too bright for my tastes.
I switched to an all-copper pair of XLR cables, and it is much more to my liking.

As with all things, you have to pick what sounds good to your ears, and sometimes the cheaper cables sound better than the more expensive ones (case in point above). They do make a difference, though.

I will say this.....I will go out of my way in the future to only buy components with fully-balanced XLR outs on them, (as applicable).