Matching Gear matter to you?

If you have OCD tendencies, my advice would be to chill out:  you are going to end up buying different gear in a year, anyway.  Not trying to offend you, it just seems to be how it works a lot of the time.

Matching gear matters to me as long as it is the color black. The new gear blends in with the old gear. No need to explain the new piece of audio equipment to the powers that be. 

I have an integrated amp and a CD transport/DAC/CDP from the same manufacturer. They are from the same series and are a cosmetic match. They share one remote, which is great. They also happen to have great synergy, so I've got that going for me. These electronic components are from a manufacturer who also makes turntables and speakers. I could go with a single manufacturer for my entire system, amplification, control, digital, analog TT and cartridge and speakers. However, haven't gone that far yet. But it has crossed my mind......

NO! Though I suppose I could get a Quad preamp to go with the four Quad amps (303,405, 50 mono pair) that I have on hand for my 57's!

Interesting. The preamp is your most important component in many ways. If it is tube based, you have some flexibility in the sound profile and it is a little cheaper to roll tubes than in a power amp.

the one other question I have is all the equipment balanced or unbalanced?  In general I would say my current preamp is better than my prior preamp but it is single ended and my old system was balanced. When I swapped it straight into the balanced system it was not better.  

Fully balanced equipment always works best in a system that is fully balanced. And by fully balanced I mean end-to-end, not just a single ended unit with XLR connections added in.