ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with electronically balanced inputs. Balanced inputs are used to prevent noise and crosstalk from affecting the input signal, especially in applications where long interconnections are used. The basic principle of balanced interconnection is to get the signal people want by subtraction, using a three-wire connection. Balanced connections are most commonly made with XLR connectors, though it can be done with stereo jack plugs. XLRs are a professional 3-pin format, and are a much better connector in every way than the usual phono (RCA) connectors used for unbalanced interconnections. The simplest unbalanced input would feed the incoming signal directly to the first stages of the crossover. There are several standards for line signal levels. The choice of internal levels for active crossovers is complicated by the fact that there are two or three parallel signal paths carrying signals with completely different spectral distributions.
