Running balanced. Difference between XLR vs. RCA.

In my experience it depends on the quality of the interconnect, the system components and your tonal balance preferences. You may perceive a significant difference or almost none at all. I've seen situations where the difference was remarkable, but sometimes only a trade off.

There is no way to know what will work best without some trial and error. It falls into the same category as trying to suggest the "perfect" brand of interconnect, single ended OR balanced.

For example, I auditioned an Audio Research DAC running balanced into an Elliott EASE preamp. I got a much grainer, flat sound stage with generally poorer overall performance than with the single ended. In both trials I used the same brand and quality level interconnects.

In extended testing with the Aesthetix Io phono and Callisto preamp, the results reversed. The same brands of interconnects were used for both tests, with the balanced providing wider bandwidth and greater dynamics over the single ended.

To make matters worse, some components that have XLR connections are not truly balanced circuits. In this case, the extra parts for a balanced connection only add links to the chain without any advantages that a true balanced design might provide.

I'm not certain that posts here are directed at my comments about "true balanced." To clarify, pasted below are manufacturers comments that explain the issue I have in mind.

Balanced or TRUE balanced?
"Quite a few high end audio manufacturers have built their amp and preamp circuits around single ended designs (not balanced). When the balanced craze began, they all wanted to jump on the bandwagon, so they did a quick fix to make their single ended circuits balanced. They simply added an extra input (for the 3d wire) which created a balanced input (because it has CMR), but not a balanced circuit.

So, when you hear the term 'true balanced,' it usually means that not only is the input balanced, but so too is the entire circuit."