DUH!! I finally realized what I did. I crossed the ground wire between the input end and output end. I was so fixated on orientation when looking at the pins, that I wired the female ends the same orientation when looking at the holes. This obviously moved the ground from one side to the other from input to output. I'll rewire them and all should be fine. Just wasn't thinking that the orientation would be the opposite on the other end of the cable to keep all contacts in the proper place.
Lower volume with some XLR's?
I just re-terminated a pair of interconnects from RCA to XLR for use in my Home Theater System. I currently have one pair of these same cables in the system with factory XLR termination. The pair that I terminated play at about 5 db less volume than the factory terminated cables. Did I do something wrong in my termination, or is this just the difference in the Neutrik plugs versus the factory plugs? I used Cardas silver solder, and all connections seem good.