C-J Pre-amps & XLR's

[Masterlu]

I notice a conspicuous absence of XLR inputs on the C-J Pre-amps. What's up with that?

[joeinid]

From what I understand, you need twice the number of parts to balance the circuit which add complexity. If not done correctly, would sound worse and some think Single Ended sounds better in some/most instances. Keep the signal path short and sweet with the least number of parts. Sort of a purist approach. I tend to go for XLR's but hey, don't mess with success. I guess this would mean shorter cable runs are preferred.

[Puma Cat]

C-J doesn't believe in the use of XLR/balanced connectors. Joe has summed it up well. C-J has sound reasons for this, but you'd be best off to discuss with Ed (or Lew Johnson if you can speak with him directly). My understanding is that they feel single-ended sounds better and is easier to manage grounding.

[ronenash]

CJ believe that a balanced design only complicates the audio circuits with no need. They try to keep the design as simple as possible. Many of their preamp and amps are phase inverting because they have only one gain stage (every gain stage in an amp inverts phase, to have correct phase you need an even number of gain stages which CJ feels only degrades the audio quality). A balanced design will require twice the number of components and requires very carfull match between the two halfs of the balanced signal which is seldom achieved correctly and is very expensive to implement. Avoiding this leaves you with more money to invest in the component of the amp. This is why CJ are the only audio manufacturer using loads of polyprop and teflon caps in all power supplies and amp circuits. The capacitors and resistors alone cost more than many other high-end components.
XLR/Balanced circuits were originally developed to surpass noise in microphone circuits where the signal is very very low. With today's preamp handling 2 volt signals this is not needed.
Try the magic of CJ and you will understand

[joeinid]

Originally Posted by ronenash

Try the magic of CJ and you will understand

Bingo! We have a winner!

[Masterlu]

Thanks for the explanation Gents!

Originally Posted by ronenash

CJ believe that a balanced design only complicates the audio circuits with no need. They try to keep the design as simple as possible. Many of their preamp and amps are phase inverting because they have only one gain stage (every gain stage in an amp inverts phase, to have correct phase you need an even number of gain stages which CJ feels only degrades the audio quality). A balanced design will require twice the number of components and requires very carfull match between the two halfs of the balanced signal which is seldom achieved correctly and is very expensive to implement. Avoiding this leaves you with more money to invest in the component of the amp. This is why CJ are the only audio manufacturer using loads of polyprop and teflon caps in all power supplies and amp circuits. The capacitors and resistors alone cost more than many other high-end components.
XLR/Balanced circuits were originally developed to surpass noise in microphone circuits where the signal is very very low. With today's preamp handling 2 volt signals this is not needed.
Try the magic of CJ and you will understand

My VAC preamp is the same. Phase inverting pre-outs if using SE - a simpler preferred circuitry to its XLR outputs

[TommyC]

This is Octave's thought regarding SE vs Balanced.

"Unlike transistor amplifiers, it is not possible to design balanced (or bridgeable) tube power amplifiers. You may come across an occasional "quasi-balanced" tube power amp, but this makes little sense when you think about it, because it is complex to implement and the need for very tight tube tolerances means that sound quality will suffer when tubes are replaced. This is why unbalanced remains the better approach for tube equipment. It also has the added benefit of superior long-term stability."

[Myles B. Astor]

Some years ago when balanced first made an appearance, there was an excellent article in TAS on "balanced" vs "pseudo-balanced."

[Dj_AmTraX]

CJ gear is very very good. The three I buy are CJ, Cary, & McIntosh.