Balanced versus single ended

I second Ralph's (Atmasphere)'s post.

You need equipment that supports the AES standard in order to compare balanced to RCA.-Otherwise, it is a crapshoot.

Utilizing the AES 48 standard should eliminate the effect of cables affecting sound quality.

FWIW, when I bought my Atma equipment, Ralph supplied me with a 25 foot length of XLR interconnect to go between preamp and amp (Mogami?) at a very low price. When I had an itch to scratch, I called my dealer who sold me some AQ Yukon to replace it. Long story short, I didn't notice a significant difference between the two cables. So, for me, using XLR with equipment that supports the AES standard, you don't have to pay an exorbitant price. If you use RCA, you might have to cycle through a number of cables in order to find one that sync's with your equipment-esp. if it doesn't support the AES standard.

I hope this makes sense. 

Bob

I'm using a preamp that has both single ended and balanced.   For me it's a bonus because I can connect 5 analog sources .  Two XLR in and three RCA inputs are plenty analog inputs for me.   It allows me to use pro-sumer gear like DACs whether they have RCA out or not.   Using a pair of Nordost Blue Heaven 2 RCA and Mogami Pro Gold XLR from the same source it's hard to tell a difference.   Any perception of better sound is the difference in gain in my opinion 

Yess. I am aware of the point that long runs are best handeled by balanced connection.

But I am talking short runs only, and my experience is still: balanced sounds better.

Could this possibly be related to the increased gain(voltage)?, aside from the excellent points Atmosphere posted? It is more than simply an increment in volume.

Maybe it is the " op amp"? Is there variability in quality of these, tube ss?

Thanks for the input. It appears many don’t hear a difference.

Everyone of my Ayre manuals recommends balanced as does Parasound for the JC 1 monoblocks, JC 2 preamp, and JC 3 phonostage.  That convinced me.

db 

Could this possibly be related to the increased gain(voltage)?

Most likely but everything makes a difference, so swapping cables by itself can make it sound different but trust me there are plenty of very top tier systems that are running single ended cabling.