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Utilising the Quad 909's balanced inputs

F

flowjm

pfm Member
Hi All,

I recently bought a Quad 909 and an Audiolab 8200CD, and very pleased I am with them too. I'm currently using a Chord CrimsonPlus RCA interconnect between the two, but I note that the 8200CD has balanced XLR outputs, and the 909 balanced inputs, albeit via the ampbus socket. With that little preamble, I have a couple of questions:

1. Does anyone have an idea s to how difficult/expensive it would be to make/have made a cable to connect the Audiolab XLR outputs to the Quad ampbus socket?

and

2. would it be worth the trouble? Obviously, this depends on the answer to the first question ;).

Cheers.
 
1) Not difficult or expensive to make but you need to know the relevant pin numbering on the 15 way D connector. You could try the Dada electronics site.

2) Probably not.
 
If it's any help:- when I had a 99 pre and 909 power, I couldn't hear any obvious difference whether they were connected via ampbus or rca.
 
Thanks a lot for the help. Regarding whether or not it makes a difference, I've noticed some hissing through the speakers when the system's idle, which is apparently a common issue with the 8200CD and which can be mitigated by using the balanced outputs.
 
1, Join DADA Electronics site.
2, Look up their Quad 77 schematic which has the pin outs for ‘quadlink’ D connectors. They are identical for 909 etc.
3, buy dsub and xlrs plus a bit of starquad and make up a patch cable.
4, you can then site power amp(s) next to speakers and run any length of balanced line between pre and power. This is quite handy. ISTR you can also daisy chain power amps. Lots of fun to be had.
 
The Quad 909's balanced signal is not genuine (not a native balanced signal), which means the signal has to be converted for the purpose and in this situation, actually creates an extra step in the conversion process. I would stick with RCA personally which will give you a more direct signal. Balanced can often be better, but not in the case of the Quad 909 (unfortunately).
 
Chris88 said:
The Quad 909's balanced signal is not genuine (not a native balanced signal), which means the signal has to be converted for the purpose and in this situation, actually creates an extra step in the conversion process. I would stick with RCA personally which will give you a more direct signal. Balanced can often be better, but not in the case of the Quad 909 (unfortunately).
Click to expand...

What "conversion process" is that? An additional transistor?
 
Chris88 said:
The Quad 909's balanced signal is not genuine (not a native balanced signal), which means the signal has to be converted for the purpose and in this situation, actually creates an extra step in the conversion process. I would stick with RCA personally which will give you a more direct signal. Balanced can often be better, but not in the case of the Quad 909 (unfortunately).
Click to expand...

Spot on yes.
 
mjwolf said:
Hi All,

I recently bought a Quad 909 and an Audiolab 8200CD, and very pleased I am with them too. I'm currently using a Chord CrimsonPlus RCA interconnect between the two, but I note that the 8200CD has balanced XLR outputs, and the 909 balanced inputs, albeit via the ampbus socket. With that little preamble, I have a couple of questions:

1. Does anyone have an idea s to how difficult/expensive it would be to make/have made a cable to connect the Audiolab XLR outputs to the Quad ampbus socket?

and

2. would it be worth the trouble? Obviously, this depends on the answer to the first question ;).

Cheers.
Click to expand...

If your Audiolab and Quad are a couple of miles apart (well, a long way, like 10M or more), in an noisy electrical / RF environment, or there are some hum issues, then balanced might make sense. Otherwise I do not believe you will hear the difference even if, in theory, balanced is a 'better' option.
 
JensenHealey said:
If your Audiolab and Quad are a couple of miles apart (well, a long way, like 10M or more), in an noisy electrical / RF environment, or there are some hum issues, then balanced might make sense
Click to expand...

Or watch this video showing the difference in 'noise' pick up between starquad and non starquad balanced cables.

It shows the noise pick up from a PC and an embedded transformer, so just a normal domestic environment.

Shame he did not include an ordinary RCA cable in the test, but note both cables are shielded.


https://www.designacable.com/ should be able to make an interconnect for you, and at considerably less cost than a 'domestic audio' cable.
 
JensenHealey said:
If your Audiolab and Quad are a couple of miles apart (well, a long way, like 10M or more), in an noisy electrical / RF environment, or there are some hum issues, then balanced might make sense. Otherwise I do not believe you will hear the difference even if, in theory, balanced is a 'better' option.
Click to expand...

I agree yes.
 
JensenHealey said:
If your Audiolab and Quad are a couple of miles apart (well, a long way, like 10M or more), in an noisy electrical / RF environment, or there are some hum issues, then balanced might make sense. Otherwise I do not believe you will hear the difference even if, in theory, balanced is a 'better' option.
Click to expand...

Thanks. As I mentioned in a subsequent post, the problem that I'm experiencing (which I hadn't noticed when I started the thread) is hissing when there's no signal coming from the 8200CD. According to posts I've read on other forums, this is apparently a known issue when feeding from the RCA outputs of the 8200CD into a high sensitivity amp such as the 909, and one which is mitigated when using the balanced outputs.
 
misterdog said:
Or watch this video showing the difference in 'noise' pick up between starquad and non starquad balanced cables.

It shows the noise pick up from a PC and an embedded transformer, so just a normal domestic environment.

Shame he did not include an ordinary RCA cable in the test, but note both cables are shielded.


https://www.designacable.com/ should be able to make an interconnect for you, and at considerably less cost than a 'domestic audio' cable.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look at that website.
 
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