Is an unbalanced preamp a bad thing?

If you amplifier has RCA input, there is no problem.

XLR itself won't bring the better sound. Good sound coming from the good design of the amp or pre.

@emergingsoul

”This is why people can’t stand buying new equipment with these stupid challenges….”

Well, this is the thing. If you want easy choices then buy something from a single manufacturer that you hear in a showroom… or a combination system you hear in a showroom… which unfortunately will sound vastly different in your home. If you want plug and play… high end audio is simply not for you. It just isn’t.

Achieving really high end audio is a journey of love, the solution clouded with ambiguity. There is ambiguity at every turn. Your preferences are different than every one else’s, yours will change over time. Every series of components sound different if you change one piece. It goes on and on.

I have been fascinated with high end audio for fifty years… learning more and more every year. I love complex, unstructured problems… this is a perfect pursuit for me.

But for most folks it is an expensive lot of nonsense. For some one of the most rewarding pursuits possible.

@ghdprentice

Achieving really high end audio is a journey of love, the solution clouded with ambiguity. There is ambiguity at every turn. Your preferences are different than every one else’s, yours will change over time. Every series of components sound different if you change one piece. It goes on and on.

I have been fascinated with high end audio for fifty years… learning more and more every year. I love complex, unstructured problems… this is a perfect pursuit for me.

But for most folks it is an expensive lot of nonsense. For some one of the most rewarding pursuits possible.

well said, very well said indeed

I agree with @ghdprentice for the hifi journey.

In the same time, people in different period do different things, there is thread talking  " After years separates,I'm going to  integrated "

That said ,some people explore more and some one need easy solution. And It might be the same guy in different period.

I have a Herron Audio VTSP-360.  Keith doesn't put XLR connections on any of his gear.  It sounds fantastic.  Before that I had a Modwright LS 100.  While it had XLR connectors, it was not "balanced".  It did however also sound great. 

How does your system sound?  Another preamp might sound better than the one you have, but whether it is balanced or not is probably not going to be the reason it sounds better.