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Questions about balanced and unbalanced interconnects

I have an Audio Research SP-8 tube preamp that I am happy with. It has only RCA connectors. Lately I have been considering buying a more powerful power amp some of which either have only XLR inputs or, according to reviews, sound better when connected with balanced connectors.

I believe I have seen XLR-to-RCA adapters with which connections could be made to my preamp, but I am wondering:
1.) Do balanced connectors always sound better than unbalanced ones?
2.) Why is that the case?
3.) For those in my situation, would I achieve better performance by using XLR-RCAs at one end and XLRs at the other or would this not yield any improvement?

In my setup, I used pre-to-power amp interconnects of ca. 12 feet. Would switching to XLRs negatively affect such a setup?

Thanks,

George Roland


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Topic - Questions about balanced and unbalanced interconnects - George S. Roland 16:23:17 01/18/15 (33)

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