RCA or XLR


I have an Aragon 8008BB power amp and an Aragon Aurum pre amp. Both have XLR and RCA inputs.  Does anyone know if they are truly balanced in their circuitry? Fellow Aragon owners, which type cable do you run?  The Aurum has such high gain my CD player blasts at 8 o'clock on the volume dial.  Thanks for any responses.
zar
Using the SYS as the preamp is not a bad idea.  I calculated out the gain on the Aurum (75 mv input sensitivity with a max output of 16v) and it is an insane 47 db.  To give you an idea, with a CD source, there is virtually no amplifier that requires actual gain from a preamp (CD output is 2v, most amps put out max output with 1-1.5 volts of input).  Most preamps have a max gain of 0-15db. 

The result of having such high gain is that you have to run your volume knob outside of its accurate range.  Most potentiometers don't track well in their lower ranges, getting better closer to full output.  Sound quality is generally lower that far down on the knob and ideally, your normal listening volume should be in the middle to top of the volume knob for best sound quality out of the poteniometer. 

So the short is, that you really may want to consider going to a passive preamp, or a lower gain preamp (you might look at the Schiit Saga and Freya).  At a minimum, I would install attunators in between your preamp and amp to get the pot in its linear range.  Here is a link for 12db RCA attenuators:

https://www.parts-express.com/harrison-labs-12-db-rca-line-level-audio-attenuator-pair--266-244
 
Guys, thanks for the informative and enlightening posts. I have switched to RCA but it has helped only marginally.  I will look at those links and pursue.  Thanks again. Mark