Cable Asylum

Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys.

Return to Cable Asylum

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

XLR cables or RCA for preamp to power amp?

75.105.171.31
Posted on May 1, 2020 at 15:38:14
alley -kat
Audiophile

Posts: 282
Location: southeast missouri
Joined: August 7, 2003
 I just purchased a Parasound p5 preamp to use on my Parasound a23 power amp.I've never dealt with the XLR hook ups before should I purchase a pair to hook the preamp to the power amp instead of using the RCA connections that I've been using? Thanks!

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: XLR cables or RCA for preamp to power amp?, posted on May 1, 2020 at 18:05:38
Dynobot
 Sound wise you probably won't hear a difference between the same brand/type of cable...XLR vs RCA. The benefit of XLR is you can use it when your components are very far apart without a degradation of sound.


 

RE: XLR cables or RCA for preamp to power amp?, posted on May 1, 2020 at 19:07:39
alley -kat
Audiophile

Posts: 282
Location: southeast missouri
Joined: August 7, 2003
 Would the Digital Fiber Optical Audio Cable be better to use between my Marantz cd 5004 player and preamp? Appreciate the help!

 

RE: XLR cables or RCA for preamp to power amp?, posted on May 1, 2020 at 19:29:08
Dynobot
 Would the Digital Fiber Optical Audio Cable be better to use between my Marantz cd 5004 player and preamp? Appreciate the help!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm assuming your Preamp has a built in Dac, hence the question about using a 'digital' fiber optical cable.

There are many ways to connect digital, optical, coax, BNC, AES/EBU, USB, I2S via [HDMI or RJ45]. Which is good, better, best really depends on each persons individual ears and musical tastes as they all have various levels of sonic differences. This is to say only your ears can answer that question.


Some people go by measurements, jitter etc. But I have never learned how to hear with my eyes or make my ears hear what my eyes see, so looking at numbers never translates over into sound for me.


 

RE: XLR cables or RCA for preamp to power amp?, posted on May 1, 2020 at 20:00:13
alley -kat
Audiophile

Posts: 282
Location: southeast missouri
Joined: August 7, 2003
 Thanks again!

 

Depends..., posted on May 2, 2020 at 07:58:47
Ivan303
Audiophile

Posts: 48887
Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM
Joined: February 26, 2001
 If both the preamp and the amp are 'truly' balanced, then use a balanced cable, by all means.

If the preamp has a single ended output that is merely wired to an XLR jack, or if the power amp's input is single ended with an XLR jack as an optional input, don't bother because it won't matter.




First they came for the dumb-asses
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a dumb-ass

 

RE: XLR cables or RCA for preamp to power amp?, posted on May 3, 2020 at 14:00:36
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
 Congrats on the new set-up, alley -kat. If you already have high-performance rca interconnects, and the distance between the preamplifier and power amplifier does not require long-length interconnects, you may wish to keep things as they are and invest in high-performance power cords instead. As for a Toslink cable, if the built-in DAC of the preamplifier is better sounding than the DAC of the CD player, then it's certainly worth hearing which DAC you prefer. Choose a good-sounding Toslink cable or you won't get the best out of the configuration.

 

Page processed in 0.027 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]