XLR to RCA? Sensible or daft?

Hi folks. I've found an i/c I really like, for reasonable money (it's on special offer: $115 for a 1m XLR pair (normal price $900) and I'm very tempted, as my CDP has XLR outputs. However, my preamp only has RCA phono inputs. If I were to buy an XLR pair, could I simply get the other end reterminated? Would that work, or is there something else special about XLR-style leads? I know next to nowt about XLRs other than the fact that I have an XLR mic cable for my SE condenser mike.

John

 

XLR leads are generally balanced connections. This means they send the signal twice, once normal and once out of phase. Its a method to reduce noise on the line but the equipment needs to support the technique. Because of this XLR leads have three conductors (ground, signal and negative signal) as opposed to RCA which simply has ground and signal.

You can have them re-terminated but you would be wasting one of the wires inside each leads that you paid for.

 

And it would offer no benefit whatsoever over RCA-RCA in that config.

 

You can convert the signal with a special transformer network....but its an expensive way to go. I'm not certain you would get any benifit from it over a short run anyway.

 

and you would need another cable to connect the transformer lol! Unless you built it into the pre-amp.

 

The most sensible way is to build into the pre as you want to keep the transformer outs as short as possible.

 

It's ok - spoke with maker and they'll do the special deal on an RCA Silver Bullet terminated version for a little over £70 a pair, plus carriage. Pretty good deal, considering the plugs alone probably run to £50 here!

 

Thats good....but how are you converting the balanced signal ?

 

Who's the maker and what cable is it?

 

Zanash - the RCA version isn't balanced. My CDP has DIN, XLR and RCA Phono outputs, so I can pick and choose. My preamp only has RCA Phono inputs. The maker is BMC, but I must add that the price I've been offered is not a regular price. Here's a link to the site:

Link to Pinnacle Gold I/C

...they also do power chords which I've very tempted by. As a possible solution to my speaker cable dilemma, I'm looking at the following:

AntiCable Speaker cable

...which is very affordable, small enough to run under a carpet (a major requirement sadly) and getting some surprisingly good press. Not entirely sure why a single drawn length of solid core OFC with ultra thin coating (with negligible insulation) should sound so good (allegedly) but at $10/foot-pair, it's cheap enough to take a chance on the hope that the hundreds of recommendations are actually talking the truth...

John

 

I had a couple of Black Mountain Pinnacle Gold Cables which I won at auction on www.audiogon.com.

These are very simply constructed cables and sound very good but don't fool yourself that you would be getting a $900 cable for £70!

Remember BMC are still making a profit on this cable even when selling it for £70, they are a large buyer of Eichmann Bullet Plugs and acquire these for a very good discount against the UK quoted RRP of £70 for four! The Gold/Silver alloy they use in their cables is the same as that used by a number of Cable Companies in the US such as Audio Metalurgy who similarly quote very high RRP's on their website.

Don't be put off by the above, as I said initially these are very good sounding cables and worked very well in my system until I started making my own using the same components as BMC with the exception of using 99.99% silver instead of the alloy, which IMO sounds better.

At retail costs for Eichmann Silver Bullet Plugs you couldn't make a cable as cheap as the £70 they are offering you for a pair so give them a try, I don't think you will be dissappointed!

 

Cheers, I always thought the $900 for $100ish deal seemed a bit too good to be true. In fairness, however, I've been using two sets of BMC i/cs for a week now (borrowed from a friend) and I do like them, so I may still go for this deal.