Balanced Inputs and Outputs

[Briz Vegaas]

I read ( in Stereophile i think) that the CT5 is better with short interconnect runs and longer speaker cable rather than the other way around.

I have not tested this but i seem to recall it was to do with output impedance rather than balanced versus unbalanced.

A consumers preference for a technology is interesting. I like independent rear suspension on cars for example. Some things are easy to attribute to that technology, for example IRS can intrude into the cabin space and a simple diagram can show this. When if comes to handling characteristics its a little less obvious to the driver. A chassis engineer however would be better at picking what contributes what to the cars handling and comfort levels. I only know that my car has IRS and has class leading ride and handling.

I suspect that similar things may be going on with the preference for balanced circuits. Customer A likes preamp A and its fully balanced. Its black backgrounds may be due to the balanced circuits, but does not having balanced mean you get less black background, or do you achieve a quiet circuit another way.

To return to my car analogy, the Ford Fiesta ST is said to have a better ( sportier, more communicative) chassis than the Ford Focus ST. Guess which one has an IRS setup. Yup, its the Focus. The fiesta chassis is the right tool for the job in the right context......and i probably know squat about suspension other than what i read in a car mag as a teenager. That is not to say that the Fiesta might be even better with IRS, but rear seat room might be crap ( but if so why isn't the Focus better).

[ehoove]

My runs from my preamp to my crossover are 26ft, so balanced is needed in my system. My ARC LS16MKII gets it done nicely, and up the ARC ladder I will climb. I have heard CJ gear and loved the sound, but the design philosophy still puzzles me. I still think their buyers would pay for the upgrade IMHO. The shame is they are located maybe 40 miles from me.
Regards,
Jim

[tdelahanty]

Originally Posted by ehoove

My runs from my preamp to my crossover are 26ft, so balanced is needed in my system. My ARC LS16MKII gets it done nicely, and up the ARC ladder I will climb. I have heard CJ gear and loved the sound, but the design philosophy still puzzles me. I still think their buyers would pay for the upgrade IMHO. The shame is they are located maybe 40 miles from me.
Regards,
Jim

Did you miss CJ's point ? They don't consider balanced circuitry an upgrade. I suspect with good power-supply design (quiet, low noise) and the high gain (output voltage swing) of their preamp output stage, driving long cable runs in the home environment is not an issue.