The great myth of the XlR

There are reasons you might prefer your RCA cables over XLR. One is that some XLR hookups on consumer equipment are not true balanced circuits. In other words, they equipment manufacturer has "faked it" in order to cash in on a trend in this area. A poorly faked circuit could sound worse.

Even with a true balanced circuit, a XLR connection typically has higher output (6 dB) than a single ended RCA connection. At worst this could overload the input circuit of the preamp or amp which would give a noticeable edge to the sound. At the other end, it may still be clean, but it might have you listening louder than you normally might due to where you are visually inclined to set your volume control. These factors would need to be closely examined before declaring a true sonic difference in the cables or cable format themselves.

I'm in the camp that when we hear a true difference (not a psychological one) there are always technical factors that can explain. They may not be the obvious or trendy explanations, but there will be an answer somewhere.

Sounds_real_audio: "I have yet to find a balanced set up that conveys the music and emotion."

If true, I guess the question then is how recording studios manage to record anything of value. Their places are chock-full of balanced cables.

I'm sure your electronics are very good and frankly it is silly to try and use balanced cabling on equipment that is not designed for it in the first place. Alternatively, if you're comparing your setup to different equipment, there are way too many other variables in that situation to blame everything on a pair of wires.

Frankly there is rarely any legit need for balanced cabling in a home environment, but it is a bit of a fad in the high-end market these days.

However, I find it sad when a subject like this ends up with people making rather nonsensical, prejorative statements to defend their preferences.

Simply put, balanced cabling serves a specific purpose. Many aspects of the professional audio world simply wouldn't work very well without it. Be grateful that it is there for the people who need it and don't worry about it if it doesn't float your boat.