Simaudio W-3 owner manual Balanced Operation

MOON W-3 Stereo Power Amplifier

Balanced Operation

When using an unbalanced interconnect, the audio signal runs through both the center wire and the shield/ground wire. Any noise picked up by this interconnect (ie. nearby magnetic fields such as an AC power cord) will be reproduced by the amplifier and heard through the loudspeakers. Conversely, a balanced interconnect has three separate conductors; one for the ground and two for the actual signal. These two signals are identical except that one is 180 degrees out of phase with the other. For example, when one conductor is carrying a signal of +5 Volts, the other will be carrying a signal of –5 Volts. When these two inverted signals on a balanced line are input into a differential power amplifier such as the MOON W-3Stereo power amplifier, any noise picked up by the interconnect will be eliminated since a differential circuit amplifies only the difference between these two signals: Noise on a balanced interconnect will be equal on both conductors and therefore not be processed.

You can operate the MOON W-3 Stereo power amplifier in balanced mode one of two ways:

1)When using balanced interconnect cables with XLR connectors, You must remove the “dummy” RCA terminator plugs from the back panel and store them in a safe place.

2)You can also use both of the the RCA “+” and “-” inputs on each channel for balanced operation.

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Balanced Operation 9