McIntosh preamp?

[blackraven]

I talked to BAT and there is no problem using the XLR adpaters and they did not think that there would be a loss of sound quality. As for the Pass, I did not notice any improvement in going from RCA to XLR. My DAC still is single ended into the Pass Preamp. Any decrease in sound quality will be offset by the much greater improvement that the BAT brings. Eventually I will get a new DAC or high end CD or SACD player with XLR. I think that the BAT has an adjustable gain much as the Pass X1 has.

Concerning the tubes, they still make brand new Sovtek and EH 6H30 Pi tubes for about $29 per Sovtek and $33 per EH gold pin. They are not hard to get and my local tube dealer here in the Twin Cities has the EH's in stock and they will match them for me. The DR's are the NOS and there are a lot of phony DR's around and they are of questionably better sound depending upon the review that you read. Actually, I am glad that there are not a lot of different 6H30's because it will keep me from tube rolling and wasting money. I went through at least a dozen pairs of 6CG7's before finding some that I liked.


I also have found a pair of high quality Cardas XLR adapters for $69 pr.

[frenchmon]

Are you still going to get the Cardas Parsec interconnects?

[blackraven]

Are you still going to get the Cardas Parsec interconnects?

Yes, but it will be a while before I buy them due to the expense of the BAT and the tubes.

[Feanor]

I talked to BAT and there is no problem using the XLR adpaters and they did not think that there would be a loss of sound quality. As for the Pass, I did not notice any improvement in going from RCA to XLR. My DAC still is single ended into the Pass Preamp. Any decrease in sound quality will be offset by the much greater improvement in that the BAT brings. Eventually I will get a new DAC or high end CD or SACD player with XLR. I think that the BAT has an adjustable gain much as the Pass X1 has.
...
I also have found a pair of high quality Cardas XLR adapters for $69 pr.

That's my guess too. The inherent character of the BAT will be more significant than balanced vs. single-ended. Balanced vs. SE has made no noticeable difference in my experience even with amps that are tweaked for balanced. The Cardas female RCA to male XLR should work fine to connect your DAC, though I see that Cardas make two types and don't seem to describe the differences. I assume you will use XLR between the BAT and the Pass.

I'll be very interested indeed to hear your impression of the BAT vs. the Pass X-1 vs. your Van Alstine.

[blackraven]

I saw the 2 different XLR adapters form Cardas. I will buy the cheaper pair for $69pr vs 150pr. Parts express sells cheapies for $5 which I will use for my sub.

[Feanor]

I saw the 2 different XLR adapters form Cardas. I will buy the cheaper pair for $69pr vs 150pr. Parts express sells cheapies for $5 which I will use for my sub.

Sounds like a plan. Another option, maybe especially for your sub, would be hybrid cables, e.g. from Monoprice ...

[blackraven]

I saw that cable but read this review on it-


As always Monoprice has the best products that your money can buy.
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Rating: (8 out of 10) Reviewer: John Jamieson from Sault Ste Marie, MI
8/21/2012 9:34:50 AM
Good ONLY for balanced to unbalanced
Pros: Great cable for connecting a balanced output to an unbalanced input

Cons: Do NOT mistake this cable as being the proper way to connect an unbalanced output to a balanced input (e.g. a consumer CD player to a audio mixing board).

I love monoprice cables in general, and this cable is good. At the time of this review, the writeup is incorrect when stating that this should be used to connect an unbalanced output with a balanced input.

To connect an unbalanced output to a balanced input, a two conductor (+ shield) cable is needed.
On the unbalanced end, the red conductor should connect to the tip, the black to the ring (the shield should not be connected).
The XLR connector should be wired with the shield connecting to pin 1, the red to pin 2, the black to pin 3.
You now would have 30-80db of noise rejection.

For more reading:

This Rane document has the best chart on proper wireing.
Sound System Interconnection

This is a more technical document that tells us why.
AV: Connecting Unbalanced Outputs To Balanced Inputs?And Vice-Versa - Pro Sound Web


All the adpaters that I am looking at have the correct pin connections, this cable does not

[Feanor]

I saw that cable but read this review on it-

As always Monoprice has the best products that your money can buy.
Was this review helpful to you?

Rating: (8 out of 10) Reviewer: John Jamieson from Sault Ste Marie, MI
8/21/2012 9:34:50 AM
Good ONLY for balanced to unbalanced
Pros: Great cable for connecting a balanced output to an unbalanced input

Cons: Do NOT mistake this cable as being the proper way to connect an unbalanced output to a balanced input (e.g. a consumer CD player to a audio mixing board).

I love monoprice cables in general, and this cable is good. At the time of this review, the writeup is incorrect when stating that this should be used to connect an unbalanced output with a balanced input.

To connect an unbalanced output to a balanced input, a two conductor (+ shield) cable is needed.
On the unbalanced end, the red conductor should connect to the tip, the black to the ring (the shield should not be connected).
The XLR connector should be wired with the shield connecting to pin 1, the red to pin 2, the black to pin 3.
You now would have 30-80db of noise rejection.

For more reading:

This Rane document has the best chart on proper wireing.
Sound System Interconnection

This is a more technical document that tells us why.
AV: Connecting Unbalanced Outputs To Balanced Inputs?And Vice-Versa - Pro Sound Web

All the adapters that I am looking at have the correct pin connections, this cable does not

Indeed, I'm familiar with the Rane document and I would would follow that advice.

I'm a little confused by the review however. The cable I pictured would be to the one to go from the BAT to your subwoofer, i.e. balanced to unbalanced, i.e. female XLR to male RCA. I really don't know whether the Monoprice cable is correctly wired in accordance with Rane, but the reviewer does say, "Great cable for connecting a balanced output to an unbalanced input".

Rane shows two balanced to unbalanced: one for one wire + shield (#4) and another for two wire + shield (#6). A few years ago I fabricated a pair of balanced to unbalanced per #6 and an unbalanced to balanced per #17.

[frenchmon]

Sounds like a plan. Another option, maybe especially for your sub, would be hybrid cables, e.g. from Monoprice ...

High end gear like Pass and Bat connected with 5 dollar interconnect? That should never be. I guess the only way youd know is to do a shootout with this and a Cardas or some other reference cable.

[Feanor]

High end gear like Pass and Bat connected with 5 dollar interconnect? That should never be. I guess the only way youd know is to do a shootout with this and a Cardas or some other reference cable.

I don't buy generally buy $5 interconnects myself, then again I've heard little to no difference among interconnects up to the $200 level. At least do the shoot out before you declare, "That should never be".

BTW, I think good advice would be to put your adaptor on the UNbalanced end of the connection, whether source or target.

[frenchmon]

Feanor,,,,I use to own those same balanced cables from MONO PRICE and gave them away. Not a bad cable but compaired to more pricey ones they fail of refinement.