Non balanced to balanced connetion?

[Ozi2]

Hi,

don't even know how to ask the question, well, I have Electrocompaniet PI-2 integrated amplifier which have two unbalanced and two balanced inputs.
i have connected CD5 to one unbalanced input and Stageline to another one.
People I trust say that thid amp sounds much better through balanced inputs, but my player did not have balanced output.

So, would it be stupid and useless to try to connect cd player to balanced XLR input on the back of the amp?

I'll apreciate any help on this.
Thanks,
Oz

 

[cliffpatte]

You can do it by leaving one pin floating, but sensitivity on balanced inputs is about 5volts and on non-balanced is about 2V (*generally*), so its pretty pointless as you'll have one source quieter than the other,

C.

 

[Paul R]

0v out single-ended to 'cold' balanced, signal single-ended to 'hot' balanced. Works fine. Whether it is of value in your case is going to be a matter of experience...

Paul

 

[BobMaximus]

People I trust say that thid amp sounds much better through balanced inputs, but my player did not have balanced output.

If your player does not have a balanced output, then it will make little difference whether you connected it to the balanced or the unbalanced input of your amp. In fact, it should sound marginally better connected to he unballanced input, because this probably avoids using the extra circuitry needed for balanced inputs.