Balanced Integrated Amp Connection


My amp is a Rowland Continuum 500, integrated. It has RCA and XLR inputs for all inputs except phono, which is RCA only. (Jeff says the ground of the cartridge to the chassis is the same as balanced.

Regarding CDP connection, is there any real advantage to balanced over unbalanced when connecting to an integrated? The C500 converts AC to DC for powering both the pre and power amp sections. My new CDP has no ground on the IEC plug, yet it gives a choice of XLR out or RCA out. Since the amp and pre are grounded together and operating in DC, what advantage is there to connecting the CDP through a "balanced" connection. (I'm only running a meter of Analysis Plus Solo Crystal IC).

It just seems to me that the ground scheme inside an integrated amp is going to be ideal and going balanced for the ungrounded CDP isn't going to accomplish anything.

Dave
dcstep
Thank you, thank you, thank you. That's the clearest, most concise description of the issue that I've ever seen. (I'll be ordering new cables for my new CDP. Now if I just find what Rowland wrote about pin 2).

Dave
You're Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.

David, It is amazing the amount of really great info held within some of these forums. We have had some pretty heated discussions with a tremendous cross section of opinions being displayed.

I absolutely love true balanced. I was running my Audiomeca CD into an Audiomeca DAC into a YBA Passion integrated. The combination was so amazingly quiet it created an absolute velvet Black background. Sounds would emanate from what seemed like total sonic darkness. It was almost uncanny. Detail like you could not believe.

Once again however, it is so important to define TRUE balanced configuration, not just XLR connectors.

Best of Luck, Ed.