Tube pre-amps: balanced a big deal?

I try to keep things simple;
A phono cartridge is a true balanced source. The sinusoidal waveform goes up, and then it goes down. A dual differential phono pre amp, pre amp combination preserves the entire waveform. An asymmetrical (rca) pre amp references the negative (down) portion of the waveform to ground. It's a little forward to say it's thrown in the garbage. However, with careful manipulation of negative feedback, a single ended pre will restore some of the negative portion.

Once you start down the balanced path, you need to go all the way. In time, and as funds allow, you will have a fully balanced system from diamond tip to amplifier output.

Here's where the problem starts. Most speakers have asymmetrical crossovers. If possible, try to find Gauder Acustik speakers. They use a symmetrical parallel crossover. When driven by a fully balanced signal, they are truly remarkable. Salk Sound uses an almost symmetrical series crossover. If you do a search, you'll hear a recurring theme; people that own Salk speakers, rarely change.

Thanks cousinbillyl, good insight.

Even better is no crossover at all. The Eminent Technology LFT-8b uses two paralleled push-pull magnetic-planar drivers for the 180Hz-10kHz range---no crossover!

Balanced is great for long, long runs, otherwise for typical in home usage you wont notice anything else besides the free 6db gain.

This statement is problematic. Many balanced systems don't give you any extra gain. The real reason that balanced operation can be attractive is that the balanced line system was devised to eliminate interconnect colorations. If you've ever had to audition a cable or happen to have heard one sound better than another you know what I'm talking about.

What if you could have cheap cables that sounded as good as the very best cables which can cost over $1000/foot? Balanced operation is how you make that happen. The trick is that the equipment has to support the balanced standard, otherwise known as AES file 48. Many 'high end audio' components do not, which means that you may not realize all the benefits of going balanced. Balanced is worth it- once you've heard a balanced system properly set up, there's no going back, but Buy Beware...

Ralph, what is the AES standard, again? Which signal on which pins, etc? Thanks---Eric.