Just because someone (MacIntosh) offers balanced inputs or outputs doesn't mean their gear really runs balanced. If they (I don't know this to be the case) are just adding another output into the path without the benefits of true balanced circuitry there would be no improvement.
I have heard a lot of equipment and I have found you rarely get what you paid for, and you never get more!
I have heard a lot of equipment and I have found you rarely get what you paid for, and you never get more!