Balanced V Unbalanced Jacks
 

Just a quick question, my preamp has unbalanced 1/4 jacks and my power amp has balanced xlr jacks. what is the best way to connect these? just a 1/4 to xlr cable? what is the difference between balanced and unbalanced?

Balanced cables pick up less electromagnetic interference. It's more important with low signal levels (mic and instrument). For short runs at line level it shouldn't be a problem.

Wire it like this:
http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/co...jack-mono.html

thanks, that makes a lot of sense

Best practice is to use a high-low impedance transformer that makes the transformation- the balanced signal is not only differently configured (pin 1=gnd, Pin2=Hot (normal signal) and Pin3 is cold (signal inverted). Pin 3 can be connected to shield but the level for High Z and Low Z are different.

Yes, you can do it with a simple cable but if you don't like the results, get the transformer.

from a preamp into a power amp sitting underneath it?

just use a regular guitar cable and get on with your day :rolleyes: