Balanced vs. Non-balanced

I have XLR  cables with pure silver wiring, so yes, I'd use it, but honestly it is rare that we need to in a home. 

There have been cases when I was at a show in NY and we had poorly shielded RCA cables and we were picking up a local radio station and I would have loved to have XLR's for this... but alas. 

At home, with short runs, the one major benefit IMHO is the locking nature of the plugs!

PS - The one area where IMHO we should be using XLR's exclusively is from phono cartridge to phono stage, but no one listens to me. 

Obviously your ears should be the final arbiter, but you might wanna check if the LM-24 is fully balanced — I’m pretty sure the Parasound is, but if the LM isn’t that might be something to consider.  I think it might be as well but not sure.  

@erik_squires PS - The one area where IMHO we should be using XLR's exclusively is from phono cartridge to phono stage, but no one listens to me. 

Heard you - See? Dreams can come true.

Yep - phono cartridge to phono stage is the one place where the signal is so low that noise is a big issue in a home. Not sure about XLRs (except that they are the standard and what’s available, but we’re talking "should" not "do") - but balanced, yes.