Whoever is saying that putting the L and R channels together is wrong. Studio monitors are never sold by the pair if the are actually good quality. Some run these from mixers which can pan the audio signal to either side. I personally prefer to run the monitor straight from the sound card on my PC when just listening to music. When recording, I run all the sounds through a tube preamp, active DI box and a Behringer mixer w/ EQ's various I/O channels, plenty unless you're mixing an orchestra. It is true that most CPU's won't let you run both left and right simultaneously; however, a simple $20 mixer and problem solved. As for distortion, your sound card does not nearly have the head room as a half decent mixer. TRS cables contain positive, negative, and a ground to kill 60-cycle hum, like an XLR would. So either way you won't experience distortion of the quality. I'm actually running Led Zeppelin loud as hell through a single JBL monitor through a balanced input and both left and right is coming through. For those who aren't "sonically" inclined, ask a pro or a friend with some knowledge off the subject. As you don't want to have an amp or a hi-Z level signal into something which cannot handle it. Match the ohms also; 4 being the most open, up to usually 16 (higher # the more impedance) so 4 ohm speaker can take just about anything, if one was to put a 16ohm speaker after a 4 or 8 ohm amp, it will not go well. For those who don't get half of this, TRS are balanced (patch) cables, XLR have microphone pins (3 + - and ground) these ccome in hi-Z and lo-Z. hi-Z is mainly only used for instrument heads or combo amps. Lo-Z is most often fed into a mixer. So my suggestion: get a nice pair of cheap, well-rated monitors and a tube preamp and you will love the sonic control you have plus the insanely warm, crisp sound. ART Tube Preamps are decent and cheap. You wont regret it.
