Chord Hugo TT2 to TToby - XLR or RCA?

[Robert]

Chord Hugo TT2/M-scaler/TToby in the house.
Oh and a Chord Huei phono stage - all those glowing balls, I love it!
Well, you can't take it with you so why not....

Hopefully it sounds at least as good as the Topping DX3 Pro+ - it looks gorgeous.

Some of the topology is confusing.
I understand the Chord dacs are single ended by design and the chord power amps are balanced.
They both have RCA and XLR connection options.

So what's the received wisdom on best connection?

Yes I know I can just experiment but I tend to choose connectors based on the jacket colour, so pondering the baby blue or apple green Van den Hul RCAs......or whip out the soldering iron and knock up some D102/III balanced leads.

 

[ToTo Man]

Chord Hugo TT2/M-scaler/TToby in the house.
Oh and a Chord Huei phono stage - all those glowing balls, I love it!
Well, you can't take it with you so why not....

And there I was thinking you were a modest audiophile, Robert!

 

[camverton]

Not the same power amp as you so fwiw, but I use balanced from TT2 to Ultima 6. This is for a very good reason in that the higher frequencies roll off when using RCA into the Ultima 6, which might explain why I thought balanced cables sounded better. Might be worth checking if there is any difference.

 

[Robert]

Not the same power amp as you so fwiw, but I use balanced from TT2 to Ultima 6. This is for a very good reason in that the higher frequencies roll off when using RCA into the Ultima 6, which might explain why I thought balanced cables sounded better. Might be worth checking if there is any difference.

Cheers. Fired it up on the RCA yesterday and really like it. I found some nice Mogami balanced XLRs lurking in a long forgotten box so will give those a try.

 

[Robert]

And there I was thinking you were a modest audiophile, Robert!

Haha, well it was a good chunk of cash but all dealer ex-dem so around 50-70% of new cost depending on the unit. Not bad for mint and boxed units.
Looks like Christmas in April all lit up (I do like buttons and lights....)

 

[Phyztech]

Normally it’s a cable level that will define what connection to use (unless you need a higher balanced gain for some reason). However a preference may change to balanced if you can address a so-called “pin 1 problem” (recommended by AES).

 

[Robert]

Interestingly I see the TT2 can drive sensitive 'speakers directly from its XLR outs.
Something to try as 18wpc/8R should push Tannoy Legacy Eatons along nicely in a small room.