Matching Single ended pre to Balanced amp

[TubesBadger]

Hello music lovers!
What your general thought on connecting Single ended pre via rca to xlr adapters/ Jensen transformers to ONLY xlr amp such as the ARC reference.
I own a reference 75se and found this sweet sweet CJ premier 14 and would like to know if I can match between the two.. or should I just go with some Arc ref3 pre or other fully balanced pre

thank you

 

[Another Johnson]

Burmester provides adapters to hook up an unbalanced preamp to their balanced amp.

So they recognize that some people will want to do this.

ARC is now putting both balanced and unbalanced input jacks on their amps. So they recognize that some people will want to do this.

Who is to say what you will think of it when you try it? You might like it.

My knee jerk reaction is “not the best.” But your ears, your system should prevail. If it were me, and I were on a budget, I’d try to find an LS28 to match to the 75SE. It’s a very nice combination, and the LS28 has both balanced and unbalanced output jacks.

 

[TubesBadger]

Burmester provides adapters to hook up an unbalanced preamp to their balanced amp.

So they recognize that some people will want to do this.

ARC is now putting both balanced and unbalanced input jacks on their amps. So they recognize that some people will want to do this.

Who is to say what you will think of it when you try it? You might like it.

My knee jerk reaction is “not the best.” But your ears, your system should prevail. If it were me, and I were on a budget, I’d try to find an LS28 to match to the 75SE. It’s a very nice combination, and the LS28 has both balanced and unbalanced output jacks.

Ty for your comment, I’ll try to audition the premier 14 and Ref75se .
Sadly there are no ls28 used here and it’s way above my budget ..

 

[jfrech]

They can work. I ran a Nagra PLL (single ended pre) and Ayre MXR's (fully balanced) for years. Sounded fantastic. My wonder with you is CJ and ARC. Two differing sounds. If you love your 75SE, you may get better results with a ARC pre...

 

[TubesBadger]

They can work. I ran a Nagra PLL (single ended pre) and Ayre MXR's (fully balanced) for years. Sounded fantastic. My wonder with you is CJ and ARC. Two differing sounds. If you love your 75SE, you may get better results with a ARC pre...

@jfrech Oh that’s good to know!
I would have to try out the sound signature they give together for sure .
Do you use some kind of transformer? Or just a cable with adapters?

 

[Ron Resnick]

My knee jerk reaction is “not the best.” But your ears . . . should prevail.

+1

 

[Another Johnson]

@jfrech Oh that’s good to know!
I would have to try out the sound signature they give together for sure .
Do you use some kind of transformer? Or just a cable with adapters?

I got away from 35 years as a CJ aficionado by the inverse path.

I had an ET7s2, TEA1, and pair of LP275Ms at one house. I bought a used LS28 to flip, but decided to listen to it before flipping. I’d had many ARC preamps paired with CJ amps before, and had always preferred CJ.

In this case it was different. The LS28 msrp was about 2/3’s as much as the ET7s2’s, but was noticeably clearer and more articulate. Long story, but I did not flip the LS28. Instead I bought a Ref 75 SE to pair with it for a system in another house.

When we consolidated systems when downsizing to one primary house, all the CJ gear was sold and the ARC gear was upgraded. No sellers remorse.

With the onset of the tube crisis, I switched to Burmester for amp and preamp. An unexpected HUGE advantage is that I can leave the SS gear on 24/7 and it sounds even better on this state than after an hour warmup from standby.

I am still using an ARC Ref 3SE as phono preamp. It crushes the onboard mc phono preamp installed OEM in the Burmester preamp.

YMMV. Your ears, your system. In my system ALL the CJ was eventually pushed out in direct comparisons to current ARC models.

Back to RCA vs XLR, this is another one of those meaningless lifetime arguments. Is analog better than digital, are stat panels better than cones, is jazz better than rock ‘n roll… you know them all. RJ did not like the CJ pre to ARC amp via adapters. If you are a cable denier, you might not mind. Try it and see.

 

[jfrech]

@jfrech Oh that’s good to know!
I would have to try out the sound signature they give together for sure .
Do you use some kind of transformer? Or just a cable with adapters?

My Nagra preamp at the time had balanced connectors, for convenience, but was full single ended. Adapters should work just fine. But I do tend to agree with others, CJ and ARC may not the best mix....even though I haven't heard them mixed.

 

[TubesBadger]

@Another Johnson
From my own experience with cables it does affect the sound, and by a fair amount sometimes. Regardless the cables difference my concern is not about IF xlr sounds better than RCA .

my concern is how an all out balanced amp like the ref75se will perform with SE .. since their input circuit lacks the Common Mode Rejection Ratio needed to have single-ended and balanced operation sound the same. IOW, distortion is higher driving single-ended.(so I heard)

i will definitely lose fee Db but I wonder if I will lack dynamics and other SQ benefits.

I hope I managed to reflect my concerns

 

[Another Johnson]

@Another Johnson
From my own experience with cables it does affect the sound, and by a fair amount sometimes. Regardless the cables difference my concern is not about IF xlr sounds better than RCA .

my concern is how an all out balanced amp like the ref75se will perform with SE .. since their input circuit lacks the Common Mode Rejection Ratio needed to have single-ended and balanced operation sound the same. IOW, distortion is higher driving single-ended.(so I heard)

i will definitely lose fee Db but I wonder if I will lack dynamics and other SQ benefits.

I hope I managed to reflect my concerns

Yes, I understand your point, but in the end, it comes down to what YOU hear.

RJ’s response to your question on the CJO forum is ignored at your peril.

Really, if you want to keep the 75SE, look for a compatible preamp.

No one on either forum has blurted out “Yeah! Great match!”