BA3 Bal / Bridged F4s vs XA252 MOSFET
So, so much discussions about components, bias adjustments, color of the LEDs, twisting or not twisting wires, noise, boxes, heat, overheat, etc, etc...
But at the end of the day, assuming nothing smokes, shorts, sparks, capacitors don't dry out in 20 years or the Sun doesn't go nova on us.....
... we sit down to listen.
So, how do the amps sound?
Most of the time, people tend to just listen to the amp.... and enjoy, but sometimes, well, you got two amps, or variations of an amp, and you think...
HMMM, which sounds better?
And, then... what if I were to mix and match? Hmmm......
+++
I recently received my XA252 base amp, the one with the MOSFET pucks, it replaces the problematic 252SIT... and I was asked to compare the sound of the 252 with the objects currently on the rack, a pair of bridged F4s with a BA3 balanced... driving the Maggie 1.7.
I compared them by treating the BA3/F4s as a unit. So I moved the balanced interconnects from the Iron Pre to the BA3 or 252. Everything else was the same, source, preamp, speakers, cables.
I also have a memory of how the bridged F4s sound in my little Audio Note speakers.... and how the 252SIT drove them as well. ( I never had the 252SIT on the Maggies). More on that anon.
So, how did the amps sound on the Maggies?
BASS:
The BA3/F4s have bass slam that needs to be heard. There's is true impact to the bass, it is quick, articulated, fast. You can feel the notes being plucked and the waveform being launched from the speaker. It feels like a subwoofer is hooked up, but much faster (1). (2)
The 252 do not have that deep bass, nor the control. They have good bass, mind you, but their sound is lean in comparison.
POINTS: BA3/F4 wins. Hands down.
MIDRANGE:
The 252 has a beguiling sound. The voices, the piano feel likes they are in the room with you. You can hear the phrasing of the singer's voice, the piano has beautiful sonority, a richness of tone that is to be heard. So does the guitar, the saxophone... it's all sweet and rich and believable. Not overripe, mind you, the instruments are distinct, separate, the soundstage is exceptional. The depth is a little bit shortened though as instruments and vocals move forward.
Sort of like my tube amp. It's all about the harmonics. Sound you can take to the desert island and not be bothered by any thing else... a Forever Sound. It was a rainy afternoon here in SoCal while I was listening, the tunes brightened up my day considerably.
However, we are never happy, what if? So...
So, the BA3/F4.... well, they are cleaner sounding. The instruments are not so rich. Overtones are realistic. They sound very accurate, the soundstage is perhaps not as deep and the voices are laid out farther back. Most likely they are where they should be, all about the melody, not the harmony. A sunny day after a rainy day...
The BA3/F4 are like a Palo Cortado sherry. Great bouquet, aroma and a dry finish that doesn't overwhelm the rest of the flavors.
The 252 is like a good Cream Sherry or a Ruby Port. Great bouquet and all of that.
POINTS: I just gotta give the points here to the 252. It is a lovely sound. Like an Aleph gone to finishing school.
TREBLE
I gotta say I didn't pay that much attention at this point to the treble. Both amps are airy, with very realistic treble. The cymbals come through cleanly and clearly. The sound is never dark and the treble is never "shhhhh" or tizzy. It is what it is. Good place in the soundstage.
That said, the drum kit, taken as a whole, sounds more realistic with the BA3/F4 because the combination of the bass drum, tom toms and cymbals sounds extremely fast, whole, lively and realistic. It is more what I remember a drum kits sounds like in real life.
But other than that, I think it's a wash.
POINTS: TIE.
DYNAMICS
Here I'm really puzzled. There is something about the 252, in general, that befuddles me. I've had both the SIT and now the MOSFET puck... and both exhibit a strange behavior. They never sound loud enough. Why? In the past I thought such was because an amp lacks distortion and as the volume goes up the sound remains clear; that is, the distortion does not increase with volume. Hmm.... but the 252 definitely has some 2nd harmonic in there, so why is it that with the 252 I always find myself turning up the volume?
I was playing Heart's Dream Boat Annie, the whole LP, and I just had to turn it up to 11... because, Damn!!, the thing sounded SO GOOD.... And at one point I noted that the right channel wasn't sounding right.
I had been forewarned: "Don't blow up this one!" (3)
Well, the Iron Pre Bal has individual pots for L and R... so I turned down the L and sure enough the R channel was not right.... oops.... I turned down the volume and then happiness returned. Nothing blown. The system was playing loud, but somehow it was just not loud enough for me. So I can testify the 252 puck amp is safe(r).
The 252SIT had the same behavior, sort of, but at lower power levels. Except for the catastrophic failures. Hmmm....
The BA3/F4 sounds satisfyingly loud enough. I've had it both on the Maggies and the AN and these babies rock. Not to 11, the Maggie 1.7 never do 11... but they sound as loud as it gets. Indeed, it is easy to overdrive the Maggies with the BA3/F4, you an actually hear it. But, it's not the amp, it's the speaker.
POINTS: BA3/F4. It just sounds faster and sounds... ahem... louder.
CONCLUSION:
It's not a clear cut choice. If we ever get a Biggvs Dickvs SIT from ZM that puts out 100 wpc and doesn't immolate itself when being pushed.... OTH, the bass from the BA3/F4 and its ability to swing from soft to loud and back on the proverbial dime... is SPECTACULAR.
So the choice, to me, comes down between the dynamics or the tube like midrange.
POINTS: no way, I'm not done. I wonder if I could biamp the speakers...
(1) I do have a pair of very fast Entec SW5s, so I know what a musical subwoofer sounds like. They mate very well with Maggies.
(2) Here I must note something. I've played the BA3/F4 into the Maggies and the AN. I also have a pair of A2s on the rack. I swap amps and speakers back and forth. The A2, with more power, do not have the bass drive. The BA3/F4 bass into the AN is rich bass, not overripe but definitely rich and deep. Again, as if someone had turned on the subwoofer under it. However, the A2s are wired singled ended to the preamp, perhaps is this the reason? I should try...
(3) I had two similar encounters with the 252SIT into the Audio Notes. First time smoke poured out of the amp.... after the rebuild, the second time the right channel went dead but not before it smoked the voice coils in the woofer. The technician stated it was DC.... That why I was warned not to "smoke it" again.
So, so much discussions about components, bias adjustments, color of the LEDs, twisting or not twisting wires, noise, boxes, heat, overheat, etc, etc...
But at the end of the day, assuming nothing smokes, shorts, sparks, capacitors don't dry out in 20 years or the Sun doesn't go nova on us.....
... we sit down to listen.
So, how do the amps sound?
Most of the time, people tend to just listen to the amp.... and enjoy, but sometimes, well, you got two amps, or variations of an amp, and you think...
HMMM, which sounds better?
And, then... what if I were to mix and match? Hmmm......
+++
I recently received my XA252 base amp, the one with the MOSFET pucks, it replaces the problematic 252SIT... and I was asked to compare the sound of the 252 with the objects currently on the rack, a pair of bridged F4s with a BA3 balanced... driving the Maggie 1.7.
I compared them by treating the BA3/F4s as a unit. So I moved the balanced interconnects from the Iron Pre to the BA3 or 252. Everything else was the same, source, preamp, speakers, cables.
I also have a memory of how the bridged F4s sound in my little Audio Note speakers.... and how the 252SIT drove them as well. ( I never had the 252SIT on the Maggies). More on that anon.
So, how did the amps sound on the Maggies?
BASS:
The BA3/F4s have bass slam that needs to be heard. There's is true impact to the bass, it is quick, articulated, fast. You can feel the notes being plucked and the waveform being launched from the speaker. It feels like a subwoofer is hooked up, but much faster (1). (2)
The 252 do not have that deep bass, nor the control. They have good bass, mind you, but their sound is lean in comparison.
POINTS: BA3/F4 wins. Hands down.
MIDRANGE:
The 252 has a beguiling sound. The voices, the piano feel likes they are in the room with you. You can hear the phrasing of the singer's voice, the piano has beautiful sonority, a richness of tone that is to be heard. So does the guitar, the saxophone... it's all sweet and rich and believable. Not overripe, mind you, the instruments are distinct, separate, the soundstage is exceptional. The depth is a little bit shortened though as instruments and vocals move forward.
Sort of like my tube amp. It's all about the harmonics. Sound you can take to the desert island and not be bothered by any thing else... a Forever Sound. It was a rainy afternoon here in SoCal while I was listening, the tunes brightened up my day considerably.
However, we are never happy, what if? So...
So, the BA3/F4.... well, they are cleaner sounding. The instruments are not so rich. Overtones are realistic. They sound very accurate, the soundstage is perhaps not as deep and the voices are laid out farther back. Most likely they are where they should be, all about the melody, not the harmony. A sunny day after a rainy day...
The BA3/F4 are like a Palo Cortado sherry. Great bouquet, aroma and a dry finish that doesn't overwhelm the rest of the flavors.
The 252 is like a good Cream Sherry or a Ruby Port. Great bouquet and all of that.
POINTS: I just gotta give the points here to the 252. It is a lovely sound. Like an Aleph gone to finishing school.
TREBLE
I gotta say I didn't pay that much attention at this point to the treble. Both amps are airy, with very realistic treble. The cymbals come through cleanly and clearly. The sound is never dark and the treble is never "shhhhh" or tizzy. It is what it is. Good place in the soundstage.
That said, the drum kit, taken as a whole, sounds more realistic with the BA3/F4 because the combination of the bass drum, tom toms and cymbals sounds extremely fast, whole, lively and realistic. It is more what I remember a drum kits sounds like in real life.
But other than that, I think it's a wash.
POINTS: TIE.
DYNAMICS
Here I'm really puzzled. There is something about the 252, in general, that befuddles me. I've had both the SIT and now the MOSFET puck... and both exhibit a strange behavior. They never sound loud enough. Why? In the past I thought such was because an amp lacks distortion and as the volume goes up the sound remains clear; that is, the distortion does not increase with volume. Hmm.... but the 252 definitely has some 2nd harmonic in there, so why is it that with the 252 I always find myself turning up the volume?
I was playing Heart's Dream Boat Annie, the whole LP, and I just had to turn it up to 11... because, Damn!!, the thing sounded SO GOOD.... And at one point I noted that the right channel wasn't sounding right.
I had been forewarned: "Don't blow up this one!" (3)
Well, the Iron Pre Bal has individual pots for L and R... so I turned down the L and sure enough the R channel was not right.... oops.... I turned down the volume and then happiness returned. Nothing blown. The system was playing loud, but somehow it was just not loud enough for me. So I can testify the 252 puck amp is safe(r).
The 252SIT had the same behavior, sort of, but at lower power levels. Except for the catastrophic failures. Hmmm....
The BA3/F4 sounds satisfyingly loud enough. I've had it both on the Maggies and the AN and these babies rock. Not to 11, the Maggie 1.7 never do 11... but they sound as loud as it gets. Indeed, it is easy to overdrive the Maggies with the BA3/F4, you an actually hear it. But, it's not the amp, it's the speaker.
POINTS: BA3/F4. It just sounds faster and sounds... ahem... louder.
CONCLUSION:
It's not a clear cut choice. If we ever get a Biggvs Dickvs SIT from ZM that puts out 100 wpc and doesn't immolate itself when being pushed.... OTH, the bass from the BA3/F4 and its ability to swing from soft to loud and back on the proverbial dime... is SPECTACULAR.
So the choice, to me, comes down between the dynamics or the tube like midrange.
POINTS: no way, I'm not done. I wonder if I could biamp the speakers...
(1) I do have a pair of very fast Entec SW5s, so I know what a musical subwoofer sounds like. They mate very well with Maggies.
(2) Here I must note something. I've played the BA3/F4 into the Maggies and the AN. I also have a pair of A2s on the rack. I swap amps and speakers back and forth. The A2, with more power, do not have the bass drive. The BA3/F4 bass into the AN is rich bass, not overripe but definitely rich and deep. Again, as if someone had turned on the subwoofer under it. However, the A2s are wired singled ended to the preamp, perhaps is this the reason? I should try...
(3) I had two similar encounters with the 252SIT into the Audio Notes. First time smoke poured out of the amp.... after the rebuild, the second time the right channel went dead but not before it smoked the voice coils in the woofer. The technician stated it was DC.... That why I was warned not to "smoke it" again.
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One more note....
I wonder how much of the bass is due to the BA3.
When I first hooked up the BA3/F4 I ran an SE cable from the Iron Pre.... and it sounded really good. But when I hooked up the balanced connection the bass came to life.
Is this due to the BA3 then?
If so, we need to rethink the design of amplifiers.
Either we go to high voltage preamps, like a tube preamp, that can swing tens of volts into a current buffer amplifier ( like the F4 ) or we split the amp so that it has two separate boxes.... as in FE and OP.
As in preamp, FE and OP.... configuration....
Personally, I like how my tube preamps swing the F4s. Indeed, I got one such pair right now behind me, into the Metronomes. But, obviously, they swing better when bridged.... MUCH better.
Naturally, there's always another option. we can cry wolf, buy a Bose Acoustimass, drink light beer and wait until the Sun goes nova.
I wonder how much of the bass is due to the BA3.
When I first hooked up the BA3/F4 I ran an SE cable from the Iron Pre.... and it sounded really good. But when I hooked up the balanced connection the bass came to life.
Is this due to the BA3 then?
If so, we need to rethink the design of amplifiers.
Either we go to high voltage preamps, like a tube preamp, that can swing tens of volts into a current buffer amplifier ( like the F4 ) or we split the amp so that it has two separate boxes.... as in FE and OP.
As in preamp, FE and OP.... configuration....
Personally, I like how my tube preamps swing the F4s. Indeed, I got one such pair right now behind me, into the Metronomes. But, obviously, they swing better when bridged.... MUCH better.
Naturally, there's always another option. we can cry wolf, buy a Bose Acoustimass, drink light beer and wait until the Sun goes nova.
Increase the output impedance?
But notice how I mentioned that the interface between the Iron Pre Bal and the BA3 created more bass..... in SE mode, it was fine, in balanced mode it was BASS. And not muddy or sloppy... no, tighter, deeper bass. I didn't touch the speaker cables, used the same Kimber 8TC in both configurations between speaker and amp.
But notice how I mentioned that the interface between the Iron Pre Bal and the BA3 created more bass..... in SE mode, it was fine, in balanced mode it was BASS. And not muddy or sloppy... no, tighter, deeper bass. I didn't touch the speaker cables, used the same Kimber 8TC in both configurations between speaker and amp.
had a guy , to whom I did some work*** centuries ago
Hafler DH101 feeding 2 DH200 (in bridged mode), driving Klipsch Horns
even if KH realistically needed 30 Watts for Disco in his space, he more liked sound with bridged Haflers - "better bass" he said
bridged Haflers are having twice Rout of single channel, while everything else being more or less the same
*** named above replaced with Tube 2-way active xover, improved so-no-clone of AR SP8, PP triode monoblocks ..... everything brass-super-shiny with red wood sides, blue leds when one was more expensive than E88CC
Hafler DH101 feeding 2 DH200 (in bridged mode), driving Klipsch Horns
even if KH realistically needed 30 Watts for Disco in his space, he more liked sound with bridged Haflers - "better bass" he said
bridged Haflers are having twice Rout of single channel, while everything else being more or less the same
*** named above replaced with Tube 2-way active xover, improved so-no-clone of AR SP8, PP triode monoblocks ..... everything brass-super-shiny with red wood sides, blue leds when one was more expensive than E88CC
Are you insinuating then when the BA3 Bal input is on its SE side, then it doesn't drive the F4s in true "bridged" mode? Only when the BA3 gets a balanced input does it kick the amps a notch? Thus, being driven in true bridge mode, their output impedance doubles?
That would explain why it was the switch from SE to balance between the preamp and BA3 that begat the Disco Beat.
I suppose I need to look into the schematic of the F4s and see if this is possible? The speakers are wired in bridged mode from L+ to R+ regardless of how the preamp and BA3 are hooked up.
Maybe 252 needs a switch that says "bass" and "BASS".
Make sure it's brass super-shiny.... with color changing LEDs.
I like the BASS setting then. No need for disco... have you ever played The Sex Pistols quietly?
That would explain why it was the switch from SE to balance between the preamp and BA3 that begat the Disco Beat.
I suppose I need to look into the schematic of the F4s and see if this is possible? The speakers are wired in bridged mode from L+ to R+ regardless of how the preamp and BA3 are hooked up.
Maybe 252 needs a switch that says "bass" and "BASS".
Make sure it's brass super-shiny.... with color changing LEDs.
I like the BASS setting then. No need for disco... have you ever played The Sex Pistols quietly?
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I'm insinuating that bridged F4 is having twice Rout, comparing to simpler, SE arrangement; not involving (necessary appropriate) FE arrangement here
for SE you're using one F4 channel to feed speaker; for Bal, you're using practically two same channels connected in series ....... well, speaker is in between these two
now, XA252 - always having non-bridged OS, whichever way you're modulating FE - be it SE (RCA) or Bal (XLR)
besides that, BA3FE (be it SE or BAL) is feedbackless thingie, thus OS Rout dictated strictly by intrinsic physical properties of used mosfets, in combination with source resistors
while XA252 - having Berserk pucks, no source resistors, and drekload of feedback all around, to further decrease Rout
in short - lesser bass control of F4 is perceived (by your own hearing apparatus) as better bass; with some other speakers (say fluffier in bass) it could easily happen that you'll prefer XA252
now, taste is everything and most important...... but there are tricks to get what we want from equipment at hand
my main trick is to choose speakers so good (for my room and for my ears) that I don't care which amp I'm using ...... but that's me
naah, what you need is to employ here same logical apparatus you're usually employing in area of your professional expertise, to understand better origin of changes you're hearing
did you ever listened music directly from TO3 cans, without speaker?
or - ditto from output xformer singing, dummy load in place of speakers
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Wait a minute.... are you telling me with a straight face that Magnepan 1.7s are dreck?
And, notice that I have driven the Maggies with the Iron Pre Bal to BA3 both in balanced and single ended mode, with the F4 on the amplifier end. So the only change between the normal bass and the fuller bass is the wire between the Iron Pre Bal and the BA3. The wires between the BA3 and the amps and the speakers did not change.
Again....the only change is in between the Iron Pre Bal to the BA3, not anywhere else... so the only change is how the BA3 is being driven...
And this is not lesser bass control. It's actually phenomenal, spectacular bass from the Maggies. Perhaps serendipitously we might have found the PERFECT amplifier stack for Maggies?
Sex Pistols... Come on... I don't need no stinking speakers, amps, TO3, mosfets. I can listen to music by watching the oscilloscope hooked up to the preamps. Amir taught me that trick. I only bring myself to your mortal level to help you out, to give you some insight to the Audio Systems we have in Olympus Mons. Sometimes, I just use my laser gun and point to the grooves and I can enjoy, in full surround, the music from the photonic phased luminated wriggles on the ceiling of the Parthenon. Zeus loves it... Just make sure not to burn his beard otherwise he'll do his Johnny Rotten interpretation on your head ( hint: that's why we wear them helmets...).
I mean, I could expect the Spanish Inquisition from ASR, but not a Torquemada from you of all people...
Whatever.... I have some boxes, I plugged them in, didn't smoke anything, played some music, and I heard that.
Next time I'll connect an HP 1980B and see what it shows...
BTW, you wrote:
"my main trick is to choose speakers so good (for my room and for my ears) that I don't care which amp I'm using ...... but that's me..."
Read what you wrote... twice, three times.... you are gonna drive yourself and Nelson out of business with that mentality. That was Julian Hirsch's mentality... the guy who'd write "this is one amp that we measured" and never bothered to listen since he had measured it.... They'd welcome you at ASR with open arms with that mentality.
REPENT!
And, notice that I have driven the Maggies with the Iron Pre Bal to BA3 both in balanced and single ended mode, with the F4 on the amplifier end. So the only change between the normal bass and the fuller bass is the wire between the Iron Pre Bal and the BA3. The wires between the BA3 and the amps and the speakers did not change.
Again....the only change is in between the Iron Pre Bal to the BA3, not anywhere else... so the only change is how the BA3 is being driven...
And this is not lesser bass control. It's actually phenomenal, spectacular bass from the Maggies. Perhaps serendipitously we might have found the PERFECT amplifier stack for Maggies?
Sex Pistols... Come on... I don't need no stinking speakers, amps, TO3, mosfets. I can listen to music by watching the oscilloscope hooked up to the preamps. Amir taught me that trick. I only bring myself to your mortal level to help you out, to give you some insight to the Audio Systems we have in Olympus Mons. Sometimes, I just use my laser gun and point to the grooves and I can enjoy, in full surround, the music from the photonic phased luminated wriggles on the ceiling of the Parthenon. Zeus loves it... Just make sure not to burn his beard otherwise he'll do his Johnny Rotten interpretation on your head ( hint: that's why we wear them helmets...).
I mean, I could expect the Spanish Inquisition from ASR, but not a Torquemada from you of all people...
Whatever.... I have some boxes, I plugged them in, didn't smoke anything, played some music, and I heard that.
Next time I'll connect an HP 1980B and see what it shows...
BTW, you wrote:
"my main trick is to choose speakers so good (for my room and for my ears) that I don't care which amp I'm using ...... but that's me..."
Read what you wrote... twice, three times.... you are gonna drive yourself and Nelson out of business with that mentality. That was Julian Hirsch's mentality... the guy who'd write "this is one amp that we measured" and never bothered to listen since he had measured it.... They'd welcome you at ASR with open arms with that mentality.
REPENT!
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heh
so, not exactly saying that Maggies are drek
I did understood you that difference is F4 SE vs. F4 bridged
though, you first wrote just about Iron Pre, claiming it has more bass if used Bal output, vs. using its SE output ..... and I told you to search for difference somewhere else, not in Iron Pre per se
so, decide ...........
as is now, you finally succeeded in totally confusing me, so practically none of the facts regarding phenomena are relevant
I know what I wrote, and I didn't mentioned measuring equipment at all
I developed personal preferences and set of criteria regarding speakers, long time before even my first measuring attempts
and before that very well known as P. Walker's
I don't know if anyone here has listened to these speakers:
(Apart from me.)
https://poporiacoustics.com/hu/feedback/
(Apart from me.)
https://poporiacoustics.com/hu/feedback/
Julian's job was to measure product, and to give him credit he said outright that he couldn't hear distortion below 0.1%
😉
😉
Hey, Gyuri, thx for the tip. They are some 30 km from my home town 😉 I must visit them...
Hmm... thank God I didn't post my impressions of the ICE amps...
I heard the increase in bass when I plugged the Iron Pre Balanced into the BA3 and bridged F4s.
When I ran the Iron Pre Balanced with an SE into the BA3 a and bridged F4s I didn't hear so much bass.
That's what I heard. I did ask you that... I don't know why. I heard this on three different speakers. All I can think of is that the BA3 is operating differently when fed a balanced signal. I'll ask the fellow who put it together... I know he's running a similar system with Maggies and he loves it.
Like I said, we might have found the perfect amplifier stack for Maggies and smaller speakers because they sound awesome.
It's not a stoopid. question... ( trust me, I'm a master at that ).... it's a good question. The short answer is no, it's not necessarily needed.
The long, hopefully more entertaining, answer:
The BA3 that I got is the twin of another one, it has both SE and balanced inputs and balanced output. It has no volume control, just a two position (High/Low) gain control. That's how I wanted it. I wanted to be able to connect different preamps to the bridged F4s, maybe even a B1.
The F4s have both a single balanced and dual SE inputs. I believe that follows the commercial product.
There are three sources in that system... LP, tuner and DAC. so some switching is required and some of those sources have SE and balanced outputs.
So, a preamp with balanced IO is nice to have. My tube preamps, either of which will drive a single F4 nicely don't have balanced inputs/outputs.
OK... forward on... take P3, Iron Pre Bal, BA3 and bridged F4. Hmm... take balanced cables, see what it does.
Do I need the balanced connections? No, not really. You are quite correct. At first everything up stream of the BA3 was done with SE.
Do I want them? Well, gotta tell you that if you want bragging rights on the Internet, short of getting the Sonora Excelsion Single Monochrome Cristalio Interconnezione Ultima wires in Ferrari Rosso.... a set of nice balanced cables with brushed aluminum ends is... sexy and gets me bragging rights when I go grab an Lagunitas IPA from the garage fridge.
( My wife says I always talk to myself... maybe I brag to myself? Yo, yo, says the right hand to the left hand, I got a beer, you don't... that's when a become a two handed beer drinker... )...
The unexpected side effect was the additional bass when all I did was change the interconnect between the Iron Pre and BA3. I didn't expect that, but it sure sounds VERY pretty.
Either that, or buy the Interconnezione Ultima for 4000 Euro plus VAT and FedEx shipping.
The difference buys a LOT of IPA.
🙂🙂
The long, hopefully more entertaining, answer:
The BA3 that I got is the twin of another one, it has both SE and balanced inputs and balanced output. It has no volume control, just a two position (High/Low) gain control. That's how I wanted it. I wanted to be able to connect different preamps to the bridged F4s, maybe even a B1.
The F4s have both a single balanced and dual SE inputs. I believe that follows the commercial product.
There are three sources in that system... LP, tuner and DAC. so some switching is required and some of those sources have SE and balanced outputs.
So, a preamp with balanced IO is nice to have. My tube preamps, either of which will drive a single F4 nicely don't have balanced inputs/outputs.
OK... forward on... take P3, Iron Pre Bal, BA3 and bridged F4. Hmm... take balanced cables, see what it does.
Do I need the balanced connections? No, not really. You are quite correct. At first everything up stream of the BA3 was done with SE.
Do I want them? Well, gotta tell you that if you want bragging rights on the Internet, short of getting the Sonora Excelsion Single Monochrome Cristalio Interconnezione Ultima wires in Ferrari Rosso.... a set of nice balanced cables with brushed aluminum ends is... sexy and gets me bragging rights when I go grab an Lagunitas IPA from the garage fridge.
( My wife says I always talk to myself... maybe I brag to myself? Yo, yo, says the right hand to the left hand, I got a beer, you don't... that's when a become a two handed beer drinker... )...
The unexpected side effect was the additional bass when all I did was change the interconnect between the Iron Pre and BA3. I didn't expect that, but it sure sounds VERY pretty.
Either that, or buy the Interconnezione Ultima for 4000 Euro plus VAT and FedEx shipping.
The difference buys a LOT of IPA.
🙂🙂
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Tony put away the Hoff to listen to some classic Sex Pistols - nice!
Also for wires - use Belden or Mogami and save $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to buy all the Lagunitas or Racer 5 you want.
Also for wires - use Belden or Mogami and save $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to buy all the Lagunitas or Racer 5 you want.
Then you had David Ranada.
No wonder Harry Pearson and J Gordon Holt came out.
But I miss Enid Lumley, she would go on for seven pages ( small sized format then ) of TAS about how she made a point of crossing all her interconnects and covering her fireplace with plywood.
Today's reviewers.... just don't have the gift of entertainment as they once did. Except, IMHO, Srajan over at 6moons.