[jjss49]

i am new member here, one of my early posts, hello everyone!

a few months back i picked up a very nice used, 5-6 year old Stratos power amp from Audiogon... it is clearly a very well made unit, so solidly and finely built (and big too!!!)

the sound is lovely, such a refined sound with warmth and air and layering, yet with iron grip as one would expect from a powerful solid state amp

i have been running a conrad johnson premier 16 tube linestage into it, via rca inputs and all has been wonderful driving my harbeth speakers, which up till now has seen mainly tube amplification for quite a few years

recently, i tried to run a Metrum balanced DAC which has a volume control, thus, can run direct into the amp - trying to remove the linestage to see if i enjoy the added clarity

going into the XLR inputs of the Stratos, i am getting major hum and noise... whilst the rca inputs remain dead silent

i tried lifting the ground on the power cable, but the noise persists if using the balanced inputs... the noise is substantial, not at all subtle

i am wondering if anyone else here with odyssey amps have had this experience... also, are do these amps have truly balanced internal construction and circuitry?  i know some equipment is fundamentally not balanced, but provide balanced connections just for user convenience

thank you in advance

[Longandstraight]

The XLR are for convenience  as they are jumped from the rca Inputs. Open them up and look at the connections. Are the XLR cables you are using the same pin  configuration ?  Reach out to Klaus and he will give you the proper sequence

[jjss49]

thanks for the input

i had a quick email exchange w klaus, he said he was very busy at this time, i asked him to let me know when he could assist me

i have used the same xlr interconnects for years on other well known gear such as ayre amps, audio research amps, atc speakers, metrum dacs - never had a pin configuration issue - hard to imagine that would happen here with the odyssey, but who nows, never say never

i will ask klaus when we connect again

[charmerci]

XLR pins (and therefore internal wiring) can be wired  differently.