Guys like @atmasphere say that if the gear supports the AES48 balanced standard (like Benchmark) different XLR cables should not effect the sound much. I feel that way with the Benchmark gear. I use the BM XLR between the preamp and amp (15 feet). The source to preamp are all Audience AU24SE expensive XLR cables. I had these Audience cables from long ago and compared them with the BM XLR’s. I thought the AU24SE were a little better, though that could be phycological because I spent a ton more money on them.
Speaker wire from the AHB2 to the speakers had a big effect on the sound. I tried 3 different cables and my preferences from most to least.
1) Audience FrontRow (with SpeakON termination)
2) Audience Conductor SE
3) Benchmark speaker cable with SpeakON
BTW - I did test the DAC3B with the headphone amp so that I could eliminate the 15 foot preamp to amp cable from the test
BTW2 - I have a warm sounding SONY SCD-1 SACD player from 20 years ago hooked up to the HPA4. It has never sounded better than today. I did not like it as much on the CODA 07x. Maybe too much warmth.
Speaker wire from the AHB2 to the speakers had a big effect on the sound. I tried 3 different cables and my preferences from most to least.
1) Audience FrontRow (with SpeakON termination)
2) Audience Conductor SE
3) Benchmark speaker cable with SpeakON
BTW - I did test the DAC3B with the headphone amp so that I could eliminate the 15 foot preamp to amp cable from the test
BTW2 - I have a warm sounding SONY SCD-1 SACD player from 20 years ago hooked up to the HPA4. It has never sounded better than today. I did not like it as much on the CODA 07x. Maybe too much warmth.