Are balanced outputs worth it, and if so where to get em

[haydenlake]

So I'm about to go and drop a grip of money on audio gear and I'm wondering if I should have a cd player with balanced outputs since many of the high end amps have balanced inputs as well. Anyone know if this is worth the cost and makes a big enough diff to justify the money.

I'm more of a 2 chanel music guy but spending 500 on a 2channel amp when I can get a seven chanel for nearly the same cost just doesn't make sense because eventually I'll want to use it is a home theater set up.

Thinking about used adcom amps and other products from Krell, Bryston, and Outlaw audio. with outlaws 990 processor and 7 channel amp I could be done because they have a upgrading program in em so when new things come out you just down load the formats.

any thoughts
b

PS I'm going to go broke and enjoy it!

[doc]

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that a 7 channel amp for the same amount of money as a 2 channel amp is not going to be as good of a product :P

Also, keep in mind that this is fricken audio gear... What ALWAYS happens in audio gear? We always buy more shit. Whether we want it louder, cleaner, lower, higher, whatever... no matter what, we are never pleased. So, if you buy a 7-channel unit then say 'hmm, my mains aren't loud/clean/whatever enough' then you buy a better 2 channel amp, you just wasted money on 2 out of the 7 channels on the original unit that you will not be using.

So, I recommend doing it right the first time. If you cant get 'everything' at once, so be it. But don't buy stuff just to buy stuff.. if the 2 channel amp you really want is more expensive, just get it now instead of figuring out you want it later and trying to sell the original unit at a loss.

Anyway, that doesn't address your balanced/unbalanced issue in the slightest, but I just hate to see people blow cash when it can be avoided.

[haydenlake]

I hear ya, and I feel the same way for the most part. My main concern is having a killer sq 2 channel setup since that is what I use 95% of the time. So I should probably consider upgrading my mains and other stuff as well and not focus on multichannel. And yep I can use whatever two channel I get in any situation so your right that this would be more flexible.

its all to addicting,

anyone want to school me on balanced outputs? (not just theory but options)

[BigSmooth]

I run balanced cable on all my gear for a few reasons.

1) I personally like XLRs. Good connection. Easy to connect and disconnect. Good strain relief and they lock in place.

2) If you have a long run from any one of your components, balanced cables will perform best. Single-ended interfaces use a common conductor as a signal return path. This performs as both a shield and ground. Balanced lines, on the other hand, use two dedicated conductors to provide forward and return paths for signal. The ground connection in balanced configurations is accomplished by means of a third conductor for ground.

[haydenlake]

yes that is all good but where can I get a cd player with a balanced output?

[BigSmooth]

All your CD players with balanced outputs are pretty spendy. If you are looking for a high end CD player I would suggest something used on www.audiogon.com.

I have a classe gear. I believe most or all thier CD players have balanced. Krell does as well.

If you don't want to go balanced on the cd player, you can still do it between the preamp and your amp. What is your budget? Sounds like you decided on an amp. What is it?

[haydenlake]

yep I predicted that the vast majority of that stuff would be above my price range. The last classe cd player I saw on ebay went for a little under a grand) my price rage about 500 for the amp I already have my sub amp, subs outa the ears, more boxes than speakers,



I already have
-decent 2way mains see other post midget towers
-sub amp Tapco J2500 (lotsa power)
-sound splinter RLp 12" actually a TC sounds TC9
-Image Dynamics Max 12
-pair of 8" a/d/s/ subs in a horn (which is what I'm using now)
-Cheap $20 pawn shop dvd player (pioneer) but it has a 94mhz 24bit processor which I think is about as good as I can get in most stuff now even then I hear the CD recording quality more.
-Just bought a Adcom gtp-400 pre-amp for 120 on ebay

So I need an amp and something to xover my subs with

So for amps I am looking at Adcom 5500 and it looks like anything from krell or bryston are too spendy. Any recs for other good amps. I'm trying to avoid anything with a fan because my sub amp has a fan and even puting it in the closet doesnt kil the noise.

[MikeS]

"-Cheap $20 pawn shop dvd player (pioneer) but it has a 94mhz 24bit processor which I think is about as good as I can get in most stuff now even then I hear the CD recording quality more."

It must be the higher processing, because I've got a cheap-assed 2 year old Toshiba 3950 DVD player and it pretty much sounds on par with my older 1999 Rega Planet CD player.

The Toshiba was 50, 60 bucks new, the Rega Planet retailed at 1000 bucks. (I bought it used for 300 bucks.)

However, the Toshiba seems a little more rolled-off than the Rega, but it's not by much......But it seems to help on the older recorded CD's that sound harsh.

You should be happy with Adcom I would guess......

There is a Adcom GF-545 on the Spokane Craiglist for $250. It's dated at Jan 2nd, so it may be gone. Might be worth checking into, you never know....

http://spokane.craigslist.org/ele/122071092.html

[95Honda]

The advantage of balanced doesn't really have much to do with the ground. The primary reason it can sound better is the fact that it uses a differential signal that can reduce common-mode noise by about 30db. It will also have less loss due to the usually 2X voltage levels over single ended. Balanced cables are not neccesarily and do not have to be shielded......

Balanced does not need a ground to work properly also......