TT wiring

[2-Channel]

Is there a consensus on TT wiring ... ???

XLR outputs

or

RCA outputs

I ask because I was told that you can request the type of wiring you want at the time of purchase. In looking at a number of phono preamps, many offer XLR or RCA inputs and outputs.

Are TT and tonearms inherently XLR or RCA ???

Many Thanks!!!

[gregswaim]

Originally Posted by 2-Channel

Is there a consensus on TT wiring ... ???

XLR outputs

or

RCA outputs

I ask because I was told that you can request the type of wiring you want at the time of purchase. In looking at a number of phono preamps, many offer XLR or RCA inputs and outputs.

Are TT and tonearms inherently XLR or RCA ???

Many Thanks!!!

You can go either way depending on your preamp. Audio Research,for example, has balanced connections for their current preamps. A good hi fi dealer will not have any problems switching out the stock RCA's on a TT and hard wiring new XLR's in place. As far as sound goes- I can't tell the difference between a TT that has XLR's and one that has RCA's. For CDP's it makes a difference, so I use XLR's for those.
Obviously, if you want XLR's for your TT then go ahead and get a fully balanced preamp with only XLR's for inputs/outputs. You may need a external phono stage as most preamps these days don't have built in phono stages,much less ones with XLR inputs for a TT. My opinion on tonearm/pickup balanced vs unbalanced- The connections on the pickup are balanced(inherently), but a number of things along the signal path could potentially cause the signal to become unbalanced.
In my opinion, it does not matter one way or the other because of the known sonic limitations of vinyl playback vs digital playback.

[PHC1]

A cartridge is inherently balanced as Greg already mentioned. I think you will find more single ended phono stages out there than XLRs though. Not a big deal but you would sort of limit yourself as to choices with XLRs. That's not to say that there aren't really good balanced phono stages out there.

[2-Channel]

I am pleased to read that both options are considered fine. That certainly widens the choices. Since there is no overwhelming support for XLR outputs from the TT, I will happily stick with the RCA single ended outputs that I expect to find on most TT's.

In fact, a recent discussion with a long time MBL dealer who certainly knew his product resulted in his explaining to me that the MBL 6010D preamplifier is happiest when using its RCA single inputs - though they do have one XLR input to cover that option. He then stated that the 6010D is happiest when using its XLR outputs to their amplifiers.

So, apparently, RCA still has a strong role in the high end ...

Thanks for your replies!!!