xlr vs. rca outputs on wadia 861b

scottielee · « **on:** 18 Feb 2005, 02:51 pm »

i am thinking about reterminating my interconnects to have one end xlr the other rca, since my amps only have rca inputs. but i just want to know what to expect. the 861b already sounds super using the rca outputs.
are the xlr outputs worth spending another $50-100 to take advantage of? or i would need my amps modified to have xlr inputs to really hear a difference?

thanks for your time!
scottie

rbrb · « **Reply #1 on:** 18 Feb 2005, 04:47 pm »

There will be no sonic benefit by using the XLR output to RCA termination. It would need to be balanced connections on both ends. Installing XLR connectors on the amp would not change how it's wired internally.

scottielee · « **Reply #2 on:** 18 Feb 2005, 06:30 pm »

thanks for the education!
i won't be getting new amps for a long long while.
scottie

Bingenito · « **Reply #3 on:** 18 Feb 2005, 06:43 pm »

Good advice. I just received the same feedback from a few people that I trust.

When shopping for a new preamp I was looking at an unbalanced pre. I contacted the manufacturer since they also offer a balanced version to see if I should go balanced or unbalanced.

They told me that since the rest of my system was truly balanced not just XLR connectors that I should go balanced. If that was not the case unbalanced would be fine.