Balanced- Yes or No?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by stereo_5

If this has been asked before, then my apologies. I looked back quite a ways and couldn't find anything relevant. What is the take on Balanced versus single ended. Presently I am running single ended in my C2500 preamp, and the output to my MC152 amp is also single ended. I did try going balanced between the amp and pre, but felt the sound was not as good. What do you guys think and what are you using?

That's a very excellent question. Unless your equipment is internally balanced or you have need of a very long cable or you have noticeable hum balanced connections are really quite useless and generally more expensive and can actually sound worse than single ended because they are more complex and more difficult to manufacture. Single ended is often sonically superior to balanced connections for these reasons.

[John Jordan]

This whole discussion makes me want to give some single ended IC's a whirl!

[stereo_5]

Originally Posted by substance

C2500 is not balanced. Mcintosh balanced pre amps starts with c500 and above. All other have single ended to balanced converters. I believe mc152 is balanced.

Thank you for that information, that is exactly what I was looking for. That is probably the reason that balanced sounded thinner than single ended. I will stick with single ended. Thanks again, you guys are great, not like the guys in the Audiogon forum where everyone knows everything. Much appreciated.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by stereo_5

Thank you for that information, that is exactly what I was looking for. That is probably the reason that balanced sounded thinner than single ended. I will stick with single ended. Thanks again, you guys are great, not like the guys in the Audiogon forum where everyone knows everything. Much appreciated.

Yes, the Audiogon crowd knows everything and not shy about pointing out that everyone else knows nothing. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course but here at AA we like to leave the attitude at the door and have a good time discussing our hobby.

[ehoove]

I have 26 foot runs between my ARC preamp and crossovers/amps so I run balanced in that situation with great results. Your situation and results could differ of course.
Regards,
Jim

[Maks]

This post made me used balanced connectors in my system (where applicable): https://www.audioaficionado.org/show...69&postcount=5

And at this point I'm not going to spend the money on 5 or 6 more ICs to compare the two.

[feinstei]

If you're running a MC75 or MC275 Mk IV or above, you want to run a balanced cable between the preamp and the amp and then put the switch on the MC275 in the "Balanced" position. This eliminates the 12AX7A in socket V1 from the circuit and results in a much better stereo image. In the case of these two amps, even for a short cable run, you benefit greatly by running balanced cables.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by feinstei

If you're running a MC75 or MC275 Mk IV or above, you want to run a balanced cable between the preamp and the amp and then put the switch on the MC275 in the "Balanced" position. This eliminates the 12AX7A in socket V1 from the circuit and results in a much better stereo image. In the case of these two amps, even for a short cable run, you benefit greatly by running balanced cables.

What's wrong with the 12AX7A in V1? Running through the op-amps is better?

[vintage_tube]

V-1 is called a splitter/inverter. It takes the L & R single ended inputs and first splits each of them into two and then takes one of each pair and reverses the polarity. The result is you end up with Left & Right balanced signals that look like they came out of an XLR.

So, using balanced cabling bypasses V1.

V2 & V5 (also 12AX7's) take the balanced Left & Right signals from V1 & multiply or amplify the voltage several times. These are the most important tubes in a MC275.

Best Sir,

Bob

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by vintage_tube

V-1 is called a splitter/inverter. It takes the L & R single ended inputs and first splits each of them into two and then takes one of each pair and reverses the polarity. The result is you end up with Left & Right balanced signals that look like they came out of an XLR.

So, using balanced cabling bypasses V1.

V2 & V5 (also 12AX7's) take the balanced Left & Right signals from V1 & multiply or amplify the voltage several times. These are the most important tubes in a MC275.

Best Sir,

Bob

Oh the horror! Thanks for the info Bob.