Phonostages — Clearaudio BALANCE V2

The Clearaudio BALANCE V2 is a phono preamplifier with balanced connections and switchable MM/MC input impedance. Clearaudio also makes turntables and tonearms. It is aimed at systems that already use balanced connections throughout.

Key specs that matter

There are two inputs, one balanced and the other single-ended. Input impedance switches between 500 ohms for moving-coil and 47,000 ohms for moving-magnet cartridges. Output impedance is 150 ohms on the XLR outputs and 75 ohms on the RCA outputs, while THD plus noise stays under 0.001%.

Engineering and use context

Clearaudio splits the design into two separate chassis, the phono stage and its power supply. Each measures 240 x 145 x 62mm, or 158mm deep for the phono chassis including the RCA sockets. The phono stage weighs 2.3kg and the power supply 1.4kg.

Pairing

The two impedance settings cover most cartridges directly, with no need for an external step-up transformer.

Alternatives

Clearaudio's own BASIC V2 sits below this model in the phono range and does without balanced connections.