XLR vs. RCA

Yes you would/should benefit by running balanced interconnects over a length that long; reduces noise & RFI pickup.

Bob is correct in stating that balanced cable runs tend to offer reduced noise. That being said, I am running over 11 meters of single ended RCA interconnect between my preamp and amps. My system not only sounds extremely good, it has absolutely no noise problem.

TCiborow, the posts above are dead on. One thing strikes me though: Do you speak of running balanced or just using XLR connectors on your cables, which are used in a single ended fashon. If that would be the case, you would of course not have the benefit of reduced noise, if that (vide Albert's post) should be a problem at all. However, I find the Neutrix XLR's generally much better than the RCA plugs. Though difficult to clean, they give a fetter fit and cannot be unplugged incidentally. Some people maintain, that they also sound better with sweeter highs and less harshness. I'v never heard that myself, but then I did not specifically try. Curious about other opinions.....Regards,

sorry typo: better not fetter about the fit XLR plugs have.

I changed my 25' run of single ended interconnect (premap to amp) over the weekend to Goertz Mircopurl Copper with Neutrix XLR's. I bought the wire and connectors from The Parts Connection for $325 and assembled it myself. Good cable, fair price (the cable is $5.25/foot, the gold plated 3-pin connectors were about $5 each, WBT solder was a few bucks). Although the wire may take time to break in, I have to say, it made a HUGE difference so far. Dead quiet background with balanced cables. Jeff

Jeffloistarca, sounds like you are on the path to success, and done within a sensible budget. True 600 ohm balanced circuits are less likely to be affected by the interconnect connection than with single ended RCA circuits. That is not to say there is no difference. Ralph at Atmasphere has done some of this testing, and I have known him for many years. His products are true balanced and true 600 ohm, and his tests concluded that inexpensive cable worked as well, until you reach the very best wire, where you could achieve a big jump. His test conclusions (at that time) were the same as mine, that Purist Audio Dominus was indeed the exception to the rule, the same wire I run single ended.

Hi Detlof. Been following your comments on recent posts and wanted to tell you,I think your a class act. Nice work on the Musicality issue.
Just a notice for all of you on this thread to watch out for XLR/Balanced compatability between true balanced equipment. There was no international standard for pin 1,2 or3 on your plug. Try putting your Balanced Studer or Ampex machine on your Hi end preamp, hey your out of phase. I dont know if this has been corrected these days, with a standard. Needless to say this is extremely important.

i'm w/al porter - in theory, balanced will be quieter than single-ended, but if ya got quiet single-ended awreddy, going balanced may not add any benefit. as i now have the capability to run my preamp & amps in a truly balanced configuration, & as my current single-ended i/c's between the pre & my single-ended x-over are 6m, i contacted phil marchand, the mfr of my marchand x-over, about his true balanced conwersion set-up he offers - he said don't bother if ya don't have a noise problem now...

and, jeff, were ya using the same 25' goertz cu micropurl w/rca's before? the improvement may be due to switching cabling, not necessarily due to switching to balanced from single-ended... ;~)

regards, doug s., dead-quiet w/6m single-ended i/c's

Hello Frap, thank you for your kind words, as well as for you important input! If I am not mistaken, next to the Studer, you had the same problem with the early Spectral 200 class a, as well as some other high end amps, which offered XLR inputs for "studio use".

Thanks for the information. At the present time, my 6.5 meter run is Silversonic BL-1 with RCA connectors. The passages between cuts on CD's, at full volume, are dead quiet. Based on what I see above, I probably should save my money and keep what I have.