Should people with no turntable or reel to reel be considered audiophiles?

Glupson is the type who will order the Burmester system when he gets his Porsche. The Bose system is not good enough for him not to mention BOSE all over the door panels would be a huge embarrassment. 
Personally, until Tesla makes an interior I can enjoy sitting in I'm out.
Anybody who uses a rock to scrape a trench is an audiophile. I have not been here long enough to get a handle on millercarbon. I suspect he is well intentioned. 
All cartridges are balance devices to begin with. Cable length would not matter so much and the noise floor would drop if manufacturers would put balanced inputs on their units. It is happening slowly. In the mean while most of us are stuck with RCA inputs. Can you convert an RCA input to a balanced input by installation of the right jack isolating ground? Anybody know?

glupson
Indeed the Tesla 3 isn’t included with a great sound system....the S & X are better but not up there. But what cars!

looscannon

The S and X have air suspension and I’ll sit in them for you, Out here in California they are everywhere.

Hey Chakster-should I worry about my 5’ or 1.5 meter interconnect going from my phono stage to my preamp? It’s a Kimber PB&J.

Phono cables are the most critical, especially with low voltage signal coming from a LOMC cartridge, the signal can be 0.15 mV or even less. This is where the Balanced phono cable, especially for a long distance, is better, but you need a phono stage with balanced inputs too.

It’s been said before and explained in details that using balanced phono cable with LOMC cartridge you will get louder signal.

For MM or MI cartriges with much higher output this problem is irrelevant if your unbalanced RCA phono cable is not too long.

Interconnect unbalanced cable for line level signal between components can be even 3 meters, but normally they are 1.2 meters and that’s fine. They can be shorter if your components are close enough to each other.

Moving the boxes around and switching to a shorter Interconnect cable (which I have a .5 meter one of the same brand) would work without any $$ investment. Would you say this is a no brainer and I should definitely do it?

I don’t use XLR myself, my unbalanced cables are less than 1.5 meters, some of them are 60cm. I have many phono stages and a few preamps, but none of them have an XLR inputs. My Gold Note PH-10 have XLR output, but my Pass Aleph L preamp does not have XLR inputs.

Since all my phono cables and interconnects are super high quality the balanced cables will be the last thing for me to think about. But for those who think about it from the start choosing XLR balanced components is a good point.

I wouldn’t change any of my high-end gear (phono stages or preamps) just because they don’t have XLR connection.

So would you swap the 1.5 meter cord out for the .5 meter one? My cartridge output is on the high side for a MC, .65.

So would you swap the 1.5 meter cord out for the .5 meter one? My cartridge output is on the high side for a MC, .65.

In analog playback a CARTRIGE is NUMBER ONE thing. As much as your cartridge must be matched very well with tonearm, your speakers must be matched very well with your amp. If you already have some nice speakers for your analog rig then think about cartridge and try different ones, start with MM or MI. This is where you can notice a huge difference in sound immediately without breaking the bank. Until you will not find "your cartridge" do not bother with cables and stuff if they cost more than a cartridge.

If your 1.5m cable is very well shielded i wouldn’t bother. If you have some hum then you can try a better shielded cable. If your cable is good i don’t think you will notice any difference even if you will cut it in the middle and re-solder the connectors.

But if you will change your cartridge you will be shocked by the difference in sound you can hear immediately without changing anything else in your system. The best cartridges are not the most expensive ones for sure (experience is the key).