snike3

Ok, apparently I didn't search very hard.... I found some copper core with copper shielding made by Belden. Unfortunately, I don't want 1000 ft! Oh well, the search continues. BTW, that Neutrik transformer I'd mentioned in my first post was the wrong one... It should have been the NA2F-D2B-TX for the female XLR.

Most RG-6 I'm finding is copper clad steel core. Do you mind sharing what kind/where you got copper core RG-6? I have some really long runs of RG-6 quad that I'm running standard RCA signals through with good results, so I'm not ruling this method out just yet. I actually am in the process of finishing this room so I will be running the cable in the walls within the month. You are correct, the balanced/differential inputs are meant to go to amps with balanced/differential XLR inputs. I have an iNuke that I used to use to power a sub in my old system, so fully aware of those. There are powered subs with XLR inputs by the way (HSU ULS and Monoprice Monolith both have them). The balanced/differential output can be used avoid signal degradation due to noise over long cable runs (commonly used for extremely low power instrument signal), which is my point in using them here. If you need further justification about using the balanced output to send signal to the unbalanced R-115SW you may want to check out the articles at the end of this post... I did not refer to XLR and RCA as balanced and unbalanced, respectively. In my post I actually used the term "balanced XLR" and "unbalanced RCA". XLR can be an unbalanced connection depending on how the source and destination actually process the signal and how the cable is made. That aside, if you look at the manual for the pre/pro you'll see that it has a balanced/unbalanced selector switch, and the instructions indicate that selecting 'balanced' will enable the XLR and 'unbalanced' with enable the RCA. One other thing to note, I've seen one other person say that there's such thing as a "balanced RCA" but I've yet to see anyone confirm it or back it up with a reference or diagram. I won't go into details about why I don't believe that works given only two conductors, but if you have a reference on how balanced RCA works or some equipment that can do it, I'd gladly give it a look. Always nice to learn something new... I finally found the appropriate search term in Google to actually find the information I was looking for. Here's a link to an articles that talks about connecting up separates, and it specifically talks about balanced to unbalanced connections. https://www.soundandvision.com/content/how-set-power-amp That article then points here for info on balanced to unbalanced connections: http://www.rane.com/note110.html

Ok, let me start by saying I've been doing a lot of searches and talking with some friends that build guitar amps for some time now and haven't come up with a solid answer. I'm getting a pre-amp (probably the Marantz AV8802A) that has balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA output for the subwoofers. One of my subs will be located fairly far from the pre-amp (I've measured and it will be about 50-60 feet in cable), and after testing my new amps with my Klipsch speakers I realized I have a fairly electrically noisy environment. Given the noisy environment and fairly long run to the subwoofer, I would like to use the balanced XLR connection. Now to the real problem... My subs are Klipsch R-115SW which only have RCA input. To connect these beasts to the XLR output of the pre-amp I'm not sure of the direction to go. To connect a pro amp to the LFE output of my normal AVR I needed an active DI box to adjust the gain levels. However, I'm not sure that's needed in this situation so using just a passive DI box might be sufficient. It seems like using an XLR to RCA cable would eliminate the benefits of using the balanced connection. So does anyone know, from specs or experience, if the output from a pre-amp (Marantz AV7703/AV8802A, Yamaha CX-A5100, or something similar) will work with a passive DI box or will I need an active one to adjust gain levels? If a DI box isn't needed and just a converter cable will work (obviously using it from the wall to the sub, and not the pre-amp to the wall), feel free to correct me. If I don't need ground lift or gain adjust something like the Neutrik NA2M-D2B-TX seems like a easy and inexpensive adapter... http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/284423-Neutrik-NA2M-D2B-TX I do realize I'm probably being a bit paranoid about getting noise in the signal using unbalanced RCA, especially if I'm using quality quad-shielded RG-6 in the wall, but with the cost of all this stuff I want to eliminate as many sources of problems as I can. Thanks in advance for any advice or experience info!