Balanced xlr or rca for Ayre C5xe

It is provided everything else is truly balanced. Otherwise, no.

Without a doubt, balanced all the way with Ayre equipment.

My preamp does not have balanced input. Comparing different CD players is such a difficult task when the rest of the equipment is different from show room to show room. The only likely thing is that Stereophile probably reviewed the C5xe using its balanced output when giving it the highest rating. Back to the drawing board for me!

I was doing an A/B comparison some time back with an Ayre cx-7e vs a c-5xe going through Ayre k-3 preamp and v-1 amp. I had 2 sets of AQ Cheetahs - balanced and rca. I definitely preferred the rca interconnects. The difference was not subtle.

Kevinmcd,

This is a first, in ownership, demos, and research of Ayre equipment. I have NEVER read an individual state that they prefer RCA over XLR, if the equipment was setup correctly and the equipment was synergistic.

Maybe the AudioQuest was the culprit? I have owned (and still own AQ speaker cable but will be replacing soon), and can personally vouch that this cable line is not the most synergistic with Ayre equipment. Highly recommend: Cardas Cables, particularly Golden Cross or Golden Reference. Since I have never personally owned or demo'd Ayre's cables, I cannot make a recommendation.

But, as an owner of a number of AQ cables (speaker and interconnects), I can personally vouch that AQ is not the best match for Ayre equipment. I suspect this hindered your audition.