Preamp Advice Needed - Gryphon Amp - Currently ARC Ref5se

@rob67 The advantage of balanced operation is that you can avoid sonic attributes coming from the interconnect cable itself.
To achieve that, the output impedance of the source is very low. The other thing that is required is that the actual signal occurs between pins2 and 3 of the XLR, and ground is ignored.
When you do balanced any other way, such as with a passive volume control, you lose the primary aspect of going balanced, immunity to interconnect cables imposing a sound.

This is why it is possible for a good balanced preamp to be considerably more transparent and less colored than a passive control.

hi Rob, i highly recommend Backert Labs Extreme or higher preamp  which would definitely surpass Ref5se qualities and aid Gryphon top end to open up. BackertLabs pre have wide soundstage being airy and extended with silkyness without sounding brittle or sterile. It feels relax, natural and it's leading edge are not harsh or metallic sounding.
Both ARC & BLabs have excellent sound stage to make your speakers disappear but ARC sounds somewhat little bit dark "tone-down" or close-in comparing to Backert Labs pre. BL have that refreshing breath feeling like listening in wide open pasture..

Thank you all for your comments.
I am researching all recommendations.

@philipwu I like the sound you are describing of the Backert Labs, although it doesnt seem to have balanced outputs.

What interconnects, cables, and power cords are you using?