Chris Robinson Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Guys, with a few Sunfires in the house shortly, what's the gig with balanced connectors? Do they really make a difference over RCA's and if so, what's a good solid brand to buy? I don't want to spend a fortune but don't want to hinder the sound by poor cable selection. Don't mean to flame up cable discussions but I couldn't find this discussion with our temporary search function. Thanks for your help! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Chris, for short runs between preamps and amps, it is not worth going to XLR. I only use them when I have a run that is over 3 meters between amps and pre's. For home audio, I have had best luch keeping the amp and pre's within 1 meter and use a decent RCA, then use long speaker cable runs. I ususally only use XLR for stage setups. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted February 19, 2006 Author Share Posted February 19, 2006 Thanks! Makes sense to me [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 The difference between XLR (balanced) and RCA (unbalanced) is rather simple...one has better noise rejection. Usually you can get by with just RCA, especially on short runs...and that's a good thing because RCA is much cheaper. But if you've got noise issues, then XLR will really help out - typically long runs have more noise issues because the 'wire antenna' is bigger. In the pro audio world we simply run balanced lines everywhere so that there is always one less thing to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplummer Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I've had a Sunfire Cinima Grand for several years now. I always thought the balanced XLR's were unnecessary also, (especially since the salesman was pushing me to buy 5 of the Monster Cable brand for over $120 a pop. I did have an opportunity though to install a cheapy set of Rat Shack XLR cables and immediately observed about a 75% decrease in background noise, over the Expensive "Gold" plated Best of the best RCA cables. I am now the proud owner of 5 Radio Shack XLR cables for about $15 a piece. You decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Nevermind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Try www.markertek.com 3 footers with either Canare or Belden cable & Neutrik connectors are $12.95 ($11.95 for 5 or more) - P# SC3XXJ. "Trick" Canare cables with Neutrik gold connectors & silver solder are $16.79 - P# SC3DXXJ Don't know if it makes any audible difference, but I figure if XLR is offered on your amp and pre amp you might as well take advantage of it - as the good doctor said, one less thing to worry about. You can spend more on Monster Crap RCA's. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 Nevermind... C'mon, Griff ... what were you going to say? [:^)] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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