To Almarg and Hasmarto: The Mogami cable XLR(female) to RCA (male connectors) are all of one cable, not an "ADAPTOR" ADD ON to a XLR to XLR cable.You would want a male connector at the XLR end as well as at the RCA end. XLR male connectors mate with XLR inputs; XLR female connectors mate with XLR outputs.
So as it stands, I just need to find a pre-amp with at least 3 XLR connectors: two obviously for the amp, and one for Ayre CD player.You would of course need a left and right channel pair of input connectors for the CD player (given that per your comment about not needing a built-in DAC you are intending to connect the analog outputs of the CD player to the preamp), and a left and right channel pair of output connectors for the amp.
AL, thank for the tip about the Neutrik adapter: Also the headsup about ARC pre-amps not working with a XLR to RCA cables; I saw an ad on AG for a brand new ARC LS-17SE, but it has NO phono stage, (not sure about the remote)My comment about ARC was that many and perhaps all ARC ***power amps*** (not preamps) that provide only XLR input connectors will not work properly unless provided with a true balanced pair of signals (which a simple connector adapter or adapter cable will not provide). As I mentioned, though, according to the manual that is not the case with the BAT VK-200.
I am also concerned about your comment about a possible reduction of 6 db in volume using an XLR to RCA cable.That is relative to the volume that would occur if the amp were provided with a balanced pair of signals each of which has the same amplitude as the unbalanced signal you would be providing it with. It would be compensated for by increasing the setting of the volume control. Unless you are presently using the volume control in say the upper 25% of its range it’s probably not a significant issue.
Best regards,
-- Al