Balanced Preamp recommendations up to $5,500
perazzi280 Unless you are heavily invested in balanced interconnects and components with balanced input connectors, I am baffled by your criteria that limits the preamplifier to balanced inputs and outputs.The OP makes perfect sense to me. It looks like he's using a turntable as his main source, and a phono cartridge is an inherently balanced device. I'm pretty sure that his Pass phono preamp is also fully balanced/differential, so it makes sense to then use a balanced, fully differential preamplifier in the system. Maintaining balanced connections will minimize the system's susceptibility to RFI and other noise, and will also minimize the extent to which cable characteristics will influence the sound of his system. |
asp307 @nkonor , the Pass XP-15 and 17 have balanced outs, just not ins..That's not quite correct. What defines a balanced circuit isn't really the connector - it's the circuit. A phono cartridge is inherently balanced; that is, it has a separate hot for each channel, a separate ground for each channel, and an earth ground. So when you connect a phono cartridge to a balanced differential preamp such as the Pass, you're providing it with a balanced input even if it's using RCA connectors. |
