Thanks for all of the considered responses. The points about ground loops, rejecting internal EMI, cost of common components such as cases, systems in a noisy enviroment, the ability to closely match stages if willing to spend the money, everything is imperfect anyway, and several others are all well taken. If you are having hum problems from ground loops and going balanced gets rid of it then it is hard to make a case against it.
I read the links from Buscis and they make good arguments but since they come from manufacturers of balanced equipment I would expect no less. BTW, the first link tried to load some stuff on my computer and locked it up, but I appreciate you taking the time to create the links.
I did not mean to imply that balanced systems can't sound good. I've heard some that are among the finest. They were also among the most expensive.
I guess my main hypothesis is that since sound is inherently a single ended phenomenom, it's reproduction should be also. Of course, I am in the "simpler is better" camp also.
Although there are some strong arguments for going balanced, I'm sticking with the basic idea that taking a single ended source, inverting it and then trying to take both the original and the inverted and treating them exactly the same through a long chain of cables and amplification is going to cause more problems than it solves.
As for noise and hum, I have a single ended system hooked up to 103 dB speakers and the only noise is a very faint hiss that you have to put your ear to the tweeter to hear. It uses Naim electronics and they are not balanced as someone suggested above even though they do use din connectors. Everything plugs into the same outlet strip so I'm sure this is one reason the noise/hum is so low.
BTW, I'm listening to $19,000 Avantgarde Duos connected with a few hundred dollars of Naim speaker cable to a $1,350 Naim integrated so I may not be exactly mainstream with my audiophile preferences, but it is the best sound I've ever had in my room. If you haven't heard the latest generation of Naim stuff you should check it out.
I read the links from Buscis and they make good arguments but since they come from manufacturers of balanced equipment I would expect no less. BTW, the first link tried to load some stuff on my computer and locked it up, but I appreciate you taking the time to create the links.
I did not mean to imply that balanced systems can't sound good. I've heard some that are among the finest. They were also among the most expensive.
I guess my main hypothesis is that since sound is inherently a single ended phenomenom, it's reproduction should be also. Of course, I am in the "simpler is better" camp also.
Although there are some strong arguments for going balanced, I'm sticking with the basic idea that taking a single ended source, inverting it and then trying to take both the original and the inverted and treating them exactly the same through a long chain of cables and amplification is going to cause more problems than it solves.
As for noise and hum, I have a single ended system hooked up to 103 dB speakers and the only noise is a very faint hiss that you have to put your ear to the tweeter to hear. It uses Naim electronics and they are not balanced as someone suggested above even though they do use din connectors. Everything plugs into the same outlet strip so I'm sure this is one reason the noise/hum is so low.
BTW, I'm listening to $19,000 Avantgarde Duos connected with a few hundred dollars of Naim speaker cable to a $1,350 Naim integrated so I may not be exactly mainstream with my audiophile preferences, but it is the best sound I've ever had in my room. If you haven't heard the latest generation of Naim stuff you should check it out.