Hello to all.
I am new to this Outlaw forum. I am replacing my trusty Marantz SR7000 receiver to improve sound quality in 2Ch/Multi Channel and get up to date on newest features/sound decoding, etc. I am considering the 990 pre with one of the 7 ch Outlaw amp Models 7125, 7200, or 7700.

My question is to the 990 owners that have the power amps with balanced inputs. Do balanced connections in the 7700 or 7500 amps improve sonics as opposed to the unbalanced connections? Lets not consider noise or cable distance issues. I would be placing the 2 units close enough that 1.5 m connections would be required. If you had bal and unbal connections and switched between them, do you notice any sonic difference? There was a thread I was following on this here...http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/41/t/000009.html#000003
...and it was not resolved or discussed at any length.
Now that more users have purchased these by now and possibly made the comparision, can anyone offer any opinions, thoughts, or test results.

Cheers,

TWEETERMAN:
I read the thread you cited above. I have two systems: (1) 990-755 unbalanced; (2) 990-7700 balanced. In system #2 with its speakers, comparing the balanced vs unabalanced [I had the 755 there first] I have not noticed a difference.

So why am I using balanced cables in system #2? Answer: Whether or not this is cause and effect I don't know. But what I can tell you is that the hum I noticed [unbalanced] is gone...and the run between pre-pro and amp was about 24 inches.

Others may not have had this experience, however. If your budget allows I would get the 7700, which you can run either way.
HTH

This is a subject that gets debated so much in part because there isn't a definitive answer. There is an old Model 990 thread (starting around this post and interspersed with other debate from back when the 990 was announced) with some really good information both in favor of and against short balanced cabling runs.

I know in my case, utilizing the 990/7500 and switching between balanced and unbalanced, I could definitely hear less noise using balanced. Maybe I had a noisy setup at the time though. An argument could be made that the source of the noise should be resolved rather than cancelling it with balanced cables. I guess I just didn't have the energy

Using balanced cables does influence the sound, because it reduces the background noise and hum, and thus provides a "blacker" background, which makes decays more audible.
The 7700 has fully balanced amps, which is quite rare- even far more expensive stuff does not have these.