xlr vs rca

Perhaps I was not clear in the last post.....a BIG BEEFY power supply means less fluctuations due too the varying demand from dynamic music and therefore less ground loops from leakage to ground from the PS => less noise induced into the low level analog signals between components.

If you care to be more specific about where he states this I would be happy to read it, but the link you gave has 10 papers on it and I don't care to read all of them trying to find it.

Herman, I have never seen a tube preamp or amp that achieves balanced operation using completely discrete amplification for the plus and minus halves of the signal. I wondered if you had, and I guess not. BAT most certainly does balanced operation the same way Atma-sphere does. I think to do balanced operation without the differential topology would be a disaster because of the difficulty matching Rp, mu, and Gm for two completely disconnected sets of tubes. At least in differential topology the current can be held constant for the two halves of the circuit by using a CCS in the cathode of the dual-diff amplifier, and the current on one side will go down by the exact complement of the increase in current on the upgoing side. The only place I have seen balanced without differential is in the context of using an IC or a 2-section bipolar transistor, which can have incredibly closely matched sections.

Yes, I know an MC cartridge is an inherently balanced signal generator if hooked up to a balanced input. I guess I was thinking of a single-ended signal from a cdp or other source.

I understand the use of the CCS but I don't see where this makes the circuit immune to differences in the tubes. It's been awhile since I've studied them but as I recall any difference in the components will be reflected in the output.

Try the Whitlock paper directed at students - Page 9 and 10. Although as the saying goes - you can lead a horse to water but...