Hi S. Andrea,
Which connection do you think is better for connecting your preamp to amp? Is it balanced or unbalanced? What are the differences between these two connections? Any advantages and disadvantages?
Thank you,
Mitch
While a balanced connection has the inherent advantage of being less susceptible to noise because of common-mode rejection, the answer to your question regarding which is better depends on your equipment.
If both your preamplifier and amplifier are fully balanced designs, you should absolutely connect them using the balanced connections -- not doing so would be throwing away the better noise and distortion performance that the balanced-circuit topology of your preamplifier provides. If your power amplifier is fully balanced and your preamplifier is not, but it offers a balanced output, you should still use the balanced connection to reduce the possibility of picking up noise between the preamp and amp -- especially if you have an abnormally long cable run. If both your preamplifier and amplifier have balanced and unbalanced outputs but use unbalanced circuits inside, you're probably best off using an unbalanced connection. The balanced connection's greater immunity to noise is likely not worth going through the additional circuitry to convert to balanced then back. If you are not sure which of the above recommendations applies, you should consult each component's owner’s manual. . . . S. Andrea Sundaram
