Balanced to RCA adaptors

Thanks for the response. The amp is Levinson 33H and I don't know if I have the right terminology, but I believe it is as you said differentially balanced...... truly balanced. Apparently Levinson did something on the 33H internal to make the RCA connection balanced as well, according to the manual. It is a very short cable run, 1.5 to 2M, so I'm hoping that will help. The preamp is the New Joule Electra LA300ME "Marianne". It is obviously tube and has an adjustable gain which should help as well.

A concern was.......can I plug in to the balanced end at the amp and the RCA end at the pre......or should I get adaptors for both ends? Anyone know? I could call Levinson and see what they say.

can I plug in to the balanced end at the amp and the RCA end at the pre...
Bullot (Answers)

Yes, you can do that. You will need RCA>XLR adapters at the amp end if you're using RCA interconnects, or you will need XLR>RCA adapters at the preamp end if you are using XLR interconnects.

...or should I get adaptors for both ends?

No.

You have the choice of using RCA interconnects with an RCA>XLR adapter at the amp end, or the choice of using XLR interconnects with XLR>RCA adapters at the preamp end. There will be no difference, IMO, since you will not be running balanced considering the Joule is not a balanced source.

Or, you can use RCA interconnects, and run single ended from the Joule and single ended into the Levinson. My hunch is this will sound best. Adapters are inexpensive, so you can experiment with both options.

The decision of which amplifier input to use, and which preamp output impedance to select is going to have the largest impact on the sound you get, due to the potential impedance matches (or mismatches).

The impedance match selecting the Joule's 350 ohm output impedance should match very well with the 33H's single ended 50k ohm input impedance.

If you use the 33H's balanced inputs, you might want to select the Joule's 1200 ohm output impedance considering the 33H's 100k ohm balanced input impedance.

You have a lot of options, and only experimentation will tell you which configuration you will prefer.

Nice combo. Have fun.

Hey, thanks very much Tvad!! I appreciate you sharing your obviously considerable exerience and knowledge!!

Check out the adaptors at sweetwater.com. I compared head-to-head vs. Cardas, and none of us heard a difference in my rig(see systems: Goosebump Factory). $5 vs. $75, or something like that...Audiophile vs. poor musician markups. Cheers,
Spencer

If as you state the RCA input on the Levinson is also "balanced" I'd go with an RCA cable and avoid the adapters. If you do try the adapters and find you prefer the sound in this configuration versus straight RCA cable, you could always have a custom cable made where it is RCA on the output end and XLR on the input end.