Exclusive to our Substack subscribers, we host a weekly Q&A every Monday. Our team of veteran writers, reviewers, and editors hand select a few to answer every Friday. Perhaps you’re having trouble with a specific amplifier, or desire a deeper understanding of transmission line speakers, from the general to the specific, post your questions here and come back on Friday to see them answered!
How can one accurately set up a cartridge, when even some high end cartridges cantilevers are not perfectly straight? I have returned one only to find the same problem with the next. I'm I being too much of a perfectionist. especially when spending over $2k ? Is this a problem others have experienced ?
Some sources have true balanced outputs, some of those output circuits only perform up to their potential into a balanced load. Other sources have XLR outputs as a feature, all too often with poor implementation of the synthesized inverted signal, providing obviously inferior performance to the circuit's natural single-ended output.
Amp inputs are also suspect.
Only when both the source/preamp and amp have duplicate circuitry and are truly balanced, is using balanced cables a sure thing -- a certain advantage. Really good (expensive) inverting circuit or transformers can be transparent, but don't expect that from most affordable gear.
In short, there is no short answer -- get the type of cable (RCA or XLR) that maximizes the performance of your gear. The choice has nothing to do with which type of cable is better -- and nothing to do with the old, old story about balanced cables rejecting noise.
That's true for 60Hz hum and 120Hz buzz, which are unlikely in a home -- the real bugaboo is RF, which balanced cabled can't address (because the 2 conductors will catch RF with a different phase due to the short wavelengths vs. the distance between the conductors.
Get trusted advice from people who have used the exact gear you have -- not even all manufacturers' sales departments know or understand -- listen for yourself using cables that are identical except for being a balanced or single ended version. Even then, most "balanced cables" are a twisted pair of conductors with the overall shield as a lousy ground reference. That design is optimal for single ended, where the ground reference is one of the identical conductors and the shield is only attached at one end.
Only an XLR cable with 3 internal conductors and the shield only attached at one end qualifies for use in a fair experiment.
Very valid points - a few items I was not thinking about concerning how the signal gets to / and from - the point where a cable is connected between components. And - it gets back to the old (best) adage - listen and see what sounds best. I have a mixture of both cables. One style sounds better than another - depending upon the application.
How can one accurately set up a cartridge, when even some high end cartridges cantilevers are not perfectly straight? I have returned one only to find the same problem with the next. I'm I being too much of a perfectionist. especially when spending over $2k ? Is this a problem others have experienced ?
Is this a QC problem or manufacturing issue ?
Can you give an overview of the pro's and con's of XLR balanced cable connections vs singe ended RCA connections between components?
Thank you, CHRIS
It's not about the cable!
Some sources have true balanced outputs, some of those output circuits only perform up to their potential into a balanced load. Other sources have XLR outputs as a feature, all too often with poor implementation of the synthesized inverted signal, providing obviously inferior performance to the circuit's natural single-ended output.
Amp inputs are also suspect.
Only when both the source/preamp and amp have duplicate circuitry and are truly balanced, is using balanced cables a sure thing -- a certain advantage. Really good (expensive) inverting circuit or transformers can be transparent, but don't expect that from most affordable gear.
In short, there is no short answer -- get the type of cable (RCA or XLR) that maximizes the performance of your gear. The choice has nothing to do with which type of cable is better -- and nothing to do with the old, old story about balanced cables rejecting noise.
That's true for 60Hz hum and 120Hz buzz, which are unlikely in a home -- the real bugaboo is RF, which balanced cabled can't address (because the 2 conductors will catch RF with a different phase due to the short wavelengths vs. the distance between the conductors.
Get trusted advice from people who have used the exact gear you have -- not even all manufacturers' sales departments know or understand -- listen for yourself using cables that are identical except for being a balanced or single ended version. Even then, most "balanced cables" are a twisted pair of conductors with the overall shield as a lousy ground reference. That design is optimal for single ended, where the ground reference is one of the identical conductors and the shield is only attached at one end.
Only an XLR cable with 3 internal conductors and the shield only attached at one end qualifies for use in a fair experiment.
Good luck!
Thank you!
Very valid points - a few items I was not thinking about concerning how the signal gets to / and from - the point where a cable is connected between components. And - it gets back to the old (best) adage - listen and see what sounds best. I have a mixture of both cables. One style sounds better than another - depending upon the application.
Best regards, CHRIS