Balanced or single ended phono cable to Aesthetix Io?

+1 on the KLE RCA's - I use them everywhere and they are much better than all other RCA's I have tried - including WBT

KLE IC's and speaker cables also rock and worth every penny

I think the quality of the cable plays a role, though, even in balanced mode.

What plays a much larger role in the sound of the cable is how its constructed (as opposed to quality), which is to say that if done correctly it will be a twisted pair within a shield.

Beyond that, the shield is ignored both at the input and output of the cable. If this is not the case, then the construction of the cable will become audible. This is why the balanced standard specifies that the shield connection is for shielding only and not signal return.

This fact if often ignored in both high end audio and also in some studio gear! It is also why there are high end uber expensive balanced cables now.

My Io has been on repair. Meanwhile I bought a used ASR mini basic to be able to play vinyl (much good sound for c 700 usd, but no Io of course),  which is single ended only. Therefore, I have not been able to follow up on single ended vs balanced. I am considering, when the Io comes back, trying a Heimdall 2 tonearm cable with XLR, that I can get to a fair price. Or maybe, I am better served by rewiring my SME V tonearm direct to the phono preamp (some services offer this - cf smetonearms.com).

It is a simple matter to install a balanced cable on an SME5; you just plug it in.

Rewiring the arm with no connectors at all sounds like a tricky job, but its a fact that eliminating connectors will help.

BTW that is how the Triplanar is wired.