Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Balanced input phono stages have typically been the preserve of high-end luminaries - Manley Labs had its limited edition Balanced Moving Coil RIAA Phono Stage in the 1990s, Ayre offered the P-5xe and Zesto the tube-based Andros Deluxe II with transformer-coupled XLR inputs and outputs. More recently, we've seen the ELAC Alchemy PPA-2 and MoFi MasterPhono , both from the pen of designer Peter Madnick. Nevertheless it's the marketing machine behind turntable brand Pro-Ject - or, more correctly, its irrepressible CEO/president Heinz Lichtenegger - that has most comprehensively put the 'balanced' back into vinyl replay. Pro-Ject currently offers both the Phono Box S3 B and premium DS3 B alongside the 'full sized' M6x Vinyl and Nu-Vista Vinyl 2 from sister brand Musical Fidelity.

In practice the vast majority of MC pick-ups are balanced by design, with both the positive and negative arms of their minuscule coils floating from ground. By contrast most, but not all, MMs have their right (green) output pin connected to ground, just as the internal cabling of some tonearms is also earthed - it's worth checking the latter before 'going balanced'. Notwithstanding the duplication of gain stages within a balanced phono preamp, the combination of an MC's low source impedance and balanced output offers the promise of improved noise rejection and reduced distortion. Ordinarily you'll need to make up an adapter to suit the input of the balanced pre, but Pro-Ject is on the ball (again) by offering compatible connections and cables for its newest turntables. PM