SDS-XLR First Impressions
Jun 13, 2005 at 2:08 AM Post #46 of 72
Thank you, that's now clear. But, I think that my Denon 2900 (modded by Exemplar Audio) does not have balanced outputs, although I may be wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19
A meridian G08 has balanced outputs. So there is no need for modding. This is what Hirsch is using. I believe he has a Wadia 801 and I think that also has balanced outputs.


 
Jun 13, 2005 at 2:19 AM Post #47 of 72
SACD lover>have you got a balanced MPX3?
[/QUOTE]

No not yet... but I am thinking about it.
very_evil_smiley.gif
I have a special SLAM MPX3 coming next that will use a plitron transformer with a 12 volt tap so I can use a 12sn7 for the gain tube. I almost bought a second old chassis mpx3 last year and had the amps converted to balanced operation... but that seemed to over the top at the time. I guess not now.
eek.gif
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 2:24 AM Post #48 of 72
Wow....
Hirsch, did your condo have to OK the "certificate of occupancy" issued after re-assessing the "pounds per square inch" needs for your flooring?
biggrin.gif


This balanced amp, and re-wiring headphones, opens a whole new quest for audiophile nirvana. When will the madness stop? Now that a better source is needed, this could be a $25,000 upgrade. If you get the EMM system (and I know that doesn't stand for Emmeline), that's another $10K if you get the modded Phillips to go along with it.
Word of caution: After reading this weeks "General" thread of the week, I strongly advise that you insure the unit when sending it back to Mikhail for Mods.
wink.gif

Enjoy, and make sure you still show up for work!
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 2:29 AM Post #49 of 72
I am wondering for the headfiers who don't have balanced outputs on their sources would a RCA>XLR converter work. Now my thinking is that it wouldn't but I am not sure.

SACD lover>Actually I think running a singlepower amp single ended would be fine for me, anyway. If running it balanced decreases slew rate wouldn't that mean it would increase the attack of a headphone. While I am sure this would be beneficial for some headfiers I am not convinced it would be for me.

Although I must admit after playing around with the Qualia and SA5K it was difficult to adjust back to my usual headphones due to the slower attack rate. I always thought that Grado's for all their positives and negatives had great attack rates. But I find them noticeably slower than the two sony's. I always like the 650 but find it hard to listen to it after the lightning fast pace of the Qualia and SA5K.
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 2:48 AM Post #51 of 72
Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19
I am wondering for the headfiers who don't have balanced inputs on their sources would a RCA>XLR converter work. Now my thinking is that it wouldn't but I am not sure.


It might work, but wouldn't that negate the whole point of having a balanced amp?
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 3:08 AM Post #52 of 72
Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19
I am wondering for the headfiers who don't have balanced inputs on their sources would a RCA>XLR converter work. Now my thinking is that it wouldn't but I am not sure.


Sure, it'd work fine. Whether or not the connection from the source to the amplifer is immaterial in whether or not the connection from the amp to the headphones is. As a matter of fact, the Gilmore Balanced has both inputs and I'm pretty sure this does also. Think of your stereo system. Each speaker gets two wires exactly the same as the headphones do in this "Balanced" system. It really doesn't matter if the connection from your source is single-ended or balanced unless you are running a long connection or live in a high noise area. The balanced connectors to the headphones together with the first balanced amplifier, the BlockHead, only having balanced inputs tends to mislead people.
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 3:13 AM Post #53 of 72
Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoZX
It might work, but wouldn't that negate the whole point of having a balanced amp?


Not really, it might introduce more noise than a balanced system, but the real difference comes from the headphones not sharing a return cable and that is true no matter whether or not the input is RCA or Balanced. The other benefits of a balanced design, 4 times greater power and a doubling of slew rate are likewise unaffected by the type of input.
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 3:13 AM Post #54 of 72
Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19
I am wondering for the headfiers who don't have balanced inputs on their sources would a RCA>XLR converter work. Now my thinking is that it wouldn't but I am not sure.


A RCA to XLR adapter would ground the negative side signals, It would still be an unbalanced mode, a nice dual mono amp with separate ground channels, but still unbalanced. It would not have twice the slew rate or twice the voltage swing of a balanced amp with a balanced source.
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 3:40 AM Post #55 of 72
Quote:

Originally Posted by dip16amp
A RCA to XLR adapter would ground the negative side signals, It would still be an unbalanced mode, a nice dual mono amp with separate ground channels, but still unbalanced. It would not have twice the slew rate or twice the voltage swing of a balanced amp with a balanced source.


To quote Kevin Gilmore's Balanced design project:

The balanced bridge output version of the amplifier (figure 2) is for those headphones that can be wired as dual mono (see the addendum for instructions on converting a pair of standard Grado SR-80 headphones into dual mono headphones). It has twice the voltage swing, twice the slew rate and 4 times the output power (competes with the $2600 HeadRoom balanced Max amplifier).

Again if you look at his rewiring of the headphones for the balanced mode amplifer at http://headwize.com/projects/showpro...e3_add_prj.htm you will find that Kevin Gilmore is using two standard headphone jacks since that is all that is required (only two wires are used).
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 4:00 AM Post #56 of 72
Congrats on your new amp, Hirsch. I must say it's a very beautiful amp. I love symmetry in amp designs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpalmer
Not really, it might introduce more noise than a balanced system, but the real difference comes from the headphones not sharing a return cable and that is true no matter whether or not the input is RCA or Balanced. The other benefits of a balanced design, 4 times greater power and a doubling of slew rate are likewise unaffected by the type of input.


This is what Justin of HeadAmp told me as well regarding my Gilmore Balanced Reference when I asked him about using unbalanced inputs instead of blanced inputs. Good thing, too, since this means one can get balanced headphones without needing to upgrade everything else in your system at the same time.
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 4:04 AM Post #57 of 72
Quote:

Originally Posted by gpalmer
To quote Kevin Gilmore's Balanced design project:

The balanced bridge output version of the amplifier (figure 2) is for those headphones that can be wired as dual mono (see the addendum for instructions on converting a pair of standard Grado SR-80 headphones into dual mono headphones). It has twice the voltage swing, twice the slew rate and 4 times the output power (competes with the $2600 HeadRoom balanced Max amplifier).

Again if you look at his rewiring of the headphones for the balanced mode amplifer at http://headwize.com/projects/showpro...e3_add_prj.htm you will find that Kevin Gilmore is using two standard headphone jacks since that is all that is required (only two wires are used).


The balanced bridge design is for an unbalanced input signal which is different from these balanced amps with balanced inputs. Amps like the Blockhead, Headamp Gilmore Reference, and this one which is basicly two amps (one for the positive signals and one for the negative signals) require the negative signals from the source to swing the negative side of the amps and headphones.
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 5:00 AM Post #58 of 72
I always thought that's a great creation since the first stage is "matched" perfectly(100%). No one is interested in building such Single-Ended input, balanced bridged output dynahi?

seems like off-topic...
 
Jun 13, 2005 at 3:17 PM Post #60 of 72
The KGSS also accepts either balanced or unbalanced inputs to drive Stax headphones, which I believe are inherently balanced. In the unbalanced mode, the unused input signal polarity is just grounded. I connected both balanced and unbalanced outputs of the G08 to the KGSS at the same time for A/B and the the balanced outputs result in noticeably more open sound. The unbalanced mode sounds muffled by comparison. I was hoping both would essentially sound the same so I have the option to connect a balanced dynamic phones or speaker amp to the balanced outputs of the G08 in the future. I guess I can still do this if I get an amp with a loop out.
 
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