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RCA to balanced question - Audio Research

kash

kash

pfm Member
Any milage in going from rca output on the pre amp to the balanced input on the power amp?

Or, should I just connect rca to rca?

The pre amp is an old Audio Research LS and only has rca outputs but the power amp has the option on rca or balanced, is a ARC D130.
 
Try it first RCA to RCA and if there is no noise coming out of the speakers you're good to go. The benefits from going from Full RCA to RCA-to-XLR are slim even on amplifiers which have a balanced topology (which doesn't seem to be the case here).

Some ARC amps (like my VT100) have a balanced topology, and perform at their best with a balanced preamp and source, but in your case, I'd expect little benefit (do make sure to use the jumpers on the XLR inputs on the amp)... Of course if you already have XLR wiring in place, there is no harm in playing with adapters.
 
Thanks for the replys. It's just that I need to buy some interconnects and saw a pair of Linn rca to xlr going cheap.
 
EIffel said:
Try it first RCA to RCA and if there is no noise coming out of the speakers you're good to go. The benefits from going from Full RCA to RCA-to-XLR are slim even on amplifiers which have a balanced topology (which doesn't seem to be the case here).

Some ARC amps (like my VT100) have a balanced topology, and perform at their best with a balanced preamp and source, but in your case, I'd expect little benefit (do make sure to use the jumpers on the XLR inputs on the amp)... Of course if you already have XLR wiring in place, there is no harm in playing with adapters.
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Noted on the jumpers. So, no downside going rca to xlr, it will sound the same just not 'better'. If I bought the rca to xlr I wouldn't have to buy the jumpers, that's my thinking.
 
Simple answer is no.

Only reason to ever do such a thing would be if the amp had no RCA inputs.

I'm not even sure Balanced inputs will work with just two pins wired up.
 
gez said:
Simple answer is no.

Only reason to ever do such a thing would be if the amp had no RCA inputs.

I'm not even sure Balanced inputs will work with just two pins wired up.
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Ok, so buy the xlr jumper pins and use rca to rca.
 
I spent an age getting a well known interconnect maker to make an xlr to rca cable from my arc ref 5 to some single ended power amps . we tried several configurations and eventually had to give up becuase of hum. i just used rca to rca then
 
hifinutt said:
I spent an age getting a well known interconnect maker to make an xlr to rca cable from my arc ref 5 to some single ended power amps . we tried several configurations and eventually had to give up becuase of hum. i just used rca to rca then
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Thanks for the insight, rca to rca it is then. Just need two jumper pins.
 
Occasionally a component can have a better signal path for its balanced input. In that situation, you may find it better going RCA from your source component to the destination component's XLR input. You're not really getting balanced, of course, but you are benefiting from the better signal path in your destination.

With regards to hum, it should be absolutely no different than with a regular RCA cable. Just make sure that at the XLR plug going into your power amp, that pins 1 and 3 are shorted. That's the shield. Pin 2 is your hot wire.
 
kash said:
Thanks for the insight, rca to rca it is then. Just need two jumper pins.
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The post you are responding to seems to be talking about an XLR to RCA situation whereas yours is RCA to XLR. The former is not recommended. Your situation is fine. At worst the sq will be equivalent to RCA to RCA.
 
brab said:
The post you are responding to seems to be talking about an XLR to RCA situation whereas yours is RCA to XLR. The former is not recommended. Your situation is fine. At worst the sq will be equivalent to RCA to RCA.
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Thanks for clarifying. Seems easier to source rca to xlr cables than finding a pair of jumper pins!
 
Note that the jumpers can be made out of heavy gauge copper wires... No need for anything fancy, just a good low voltage electrical connection
 
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