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XLR-RCA adapters - which to choose?

I need an RCA male to XLR male adapter because my SACD player doesn't have balanced outputs and I don't want to reterminate my (expensive) Nirvana S-X Ltd interconnects! Does anyone have a view on who makes the best and/or best value adapters? I have been considering Purist Audio Design (expensive) and Cardas (less expensive). Is there much differnce between them and are ther others I should look at? Thanks
jabali_hunter
kennyt
1,226 posts
 
Sorry,

The website I bought the Neutrik ones from is

www.markertek.com

They were $9.95 ea.
bbaxley2
141 posts
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/XLR-Male-to-RCA-Adapter_W0QQitemZ7353233355QQcategoryZ41460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem look at these i got them and they are fine. just do a search on ebay for rca to xlr adapters
ekistler_sj
60 posts
 
I have a pair of Cardas adapters in my system now and they are working out well. Like some others, I started with a pair of cheap Chinese-made adapters, and then upgraded to the Cardas pieces. The difference between the two was subtle, but was audible nonetheless. Also, the Cardas adapters improved noticeably with 20 or so hours of break-in, whereas the cheapos never improved a bit, IMO.
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drubin
3,267 posts
 
Now that I think about it, I have to agree with Bwyoung's assessment that the Cardas lend a slight darkening to the sound. That's the Cardas sound and it's amazing how it manifests in everything they make. Or is my mind imposing my mental image of the Cardas sound on every piece of their gear I try? Oh, the existential questions of audiophilia...
jabali_hunter OP
26 posts
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. It seems that most people are pretty happy with the Cardas adapters. I noticed some darkening to the sound when using an unbalanced cable terminated RCA to XLR. I put it down to feeding the balanced inputs of my pre-amp with an unbalanced signal, so maybe all adapters would have the same effect. Otherwise it was just crap cable!
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