Unbalanced to balanced VPI junction box change?

^^ That is a good question! It has to do with how the source (phono cartridge) is driving the load, which is to say that the source impedance should be lower than the load by about 10:1.

In the case of LOMC there does not seem to be a downside. LOMCs can drive low impedances with ease.

If we are talking line level, the equipment driving the cable should be able to drive a 600 ohm load. In the old days this was done with an output transformer (in the studio).

These days to do this you need a preamp that has some guts in the line section to drive such a load. Usually this results in a lower output impedance from that line section as well. Whether all this is a down side or trade-off is hard to tell; we solved the problem by doing a direct-coupled vacuum tube output and if anything it seems to sound better for it.

I think some might argue that the signal path is more complex when going balanced- twice as many parts is the old myth there (it does not take twice as many parts). I don't think the signal path has to be more complex; in our case we only have 3 stages of gain between the LOMC input and the output of the line section- I can't speak for all preamps here, but as far as I can tell you don't loose anything with the balanced line system.

Again, the amazing number of stereo LPs from the 1950s that are still sought for their excellent sound should tell you something.

Thank you for the great info, but i am confused as ever. Let me clarify, i was refering to needing to upgrade to balanced IC and not tone arm wiring. The vpi balanced junction box comes with the Valhalla wiring. My dealer was explaining the balanced concept and lost me. I do have a preamp that accepts balanced input. Will any balanced cable work? If makes a difference and since my phono preamp accepts balanced connection i thought of taking full advantage of it. Thank you all.

Well thanks for the clarification :-) Any balanced cable will work, see Ralph Carsten's (Atmasphere) explanation above, you will be pleasantly surprised.

IMO balanced is the only way to run a LOMC Cartridge.

Good Listening

Peter

Peter has it right- in no way has anyone suggested that the tone arm be rewired!

Atmosphere...you're absolutely correct. I found that the high priced spread often is not as good as the lesser ones. I feel that there is no such thing as "The Absolute Sound". Yes, there are qualities that we appreciate being reproduced, but I've played in a number of venues....Alice Tulley sounds different than Carnegie which sounds different than Boston's Symphony Hall.... My violin sounds different in my practice room than in my living room just a few yards away. I dare say, I've never heard my violin the way my listeners hear it....my instrument is under my left ear. Even when I have a another violinist play my instrument as I step back to listen, her/his manipulation of my bow is different than my technique...and therefore sounds different. I have tried just about every brand of string on my instrument...yup, they all sound different, and sound different with the amount of hours you log on them. There is no right... What I try to do is construct my listening to what pleases me...that makes me smile, and be damned the specs.