Thanks Al and ieales et al. So the moral is, ‘who knows, keep trying til you find what you like’, or alternatively, ‘plug the rabbit hole!’
it does make sense, cables would be another component that can add or detract, to varying degrees, what is ultimately heard.
I do think, in my application, XLR makes no sense - the amp isn’t a true balanced design, so I’d be converting anyway, and that does seem to be detrimental.
Everything works as-is, so I’ll pick one pair of interconnects at a time and experiment.
it does make sense, cables would be another component that can add or detract, to varying degrees, what is ultimately heard.
I do think, in my application, XLR makes no sense - the amp isn’t a true balanced design, so I’d be converting anyway, and that does seem to be detrimental.
Everything works as-is, so I’ll pick one pair of interconnects at a time and experiment.