The balanced version of the Psyche features a 6BL7 output stage. The digital section is identical to that of the version with the 6080 output stage. See the previous article.
One half of the 6BL7 tube is an output stage with an unbalanced RCA output, 4v RMS/0dB level.
The other half is a phase-splitter stage with an XLR output, 2v RMS/0dB level.
Both outputs operate simultaneously. Unlike the 6080 stage, this version features per-channel output level control. If you’re using output tubes that aren’t perfectly matched, you can equalize the channel output.
To the numerous questions about the usefulness of a balanced output, I always answer that balanced stages aren’t a gateway to audio paradise. This topology is indispensable in the studio, where we’re forced to use cables several meters long, even tens of meters, while keeping noise and hum levels to a minimum. But in home audio, the only case where a balanced output makes sense is when using a push-pull power amplifier with a balanced input. Then it makes sense to create a source with a balanced output.
Nevertheless, I continue to maintain that too many balanced stages in a system leads to a dry sound, as these stages have an unnatural harmonic spectrum. Aside from the high noise immunity of this type of connection, you don’t gain any significant advantages that would enhance your connection with the music. Beauty of sound, plasticity, diversity of timbres, magic—all this is more easily achieved from conventional single-ended amplification stages. For me, a balanced path from input to output in home audio, as a technical task, is complete nonsense and an unnecessary complication of the signal path. Pursuing such a speculative goal means acting out of touch with the reality of hearing experience.
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