At this level of high(er) end audio why not offer balanced connections?

Andrew Robinson uses only RCA connections. He is not a big fan of XLR ....

I only know me truly high end manufacturer who does’t - Spectral - and they d sign their system end to end  - you need their cables! Boulder requires XLR , and Ayre includ s it, DCS, as well.

Ayre’s Charlie Hanson was a big advocate of balanced connections. Ayre’s user manuals state that balanced connections are preferred. Of course Ayre’s components are fully balanced, so a balanced connection with them makes sense.

My tube amps are from Triode Audio of Japan.  TRX-M845 mono blocks.  I asked them directly what type of cables they use when setting up systems at major audio shows.  My thought being they would use what makes their equipment sound the best.  They responded only RCA cables are ever used, as as the amps are not balanced by design.  That's good enough for me.  As for the "long run" cable scenario. my preamp is 18 feet away from my amps.  I have been told by many sources this distance is nothing for an RCA cable.  Now Hegel on the other hand, suggests the use of high quality XLR cables is the way to go.  I have tried both and must say I hear no difference in sound.  Tempest in a tea cup IMHO.

Unless you are going to reach out to the marketing and engineering department of every high end audio manufacturer that doesn’t offer balanced connections every answer you get is a speculation. The reason is going to be somewhat different for each company. So, I’m going to speculate and provide several potential reasons, some of which have already been mentioned.

1. The designer has determined that there is no significant sonic difference between single ended and balanced circuitry.

2. Balanced circuitry is more complicated and expensive to implement. It could also be that a designer’s preferred circuitry doesn’t lend itself to balanced operation. Why do it if you don’t believe it sounds any better?

3. The marketing department has determined that their target customer doesn’t feel that balanced circuitry is better. It could be a marketing decision.

4. Related to point #3, the marketing department has determined that the extra cost of adding balanced circuitry and connectors kicks the product into a different price bracket where they don’t want to compete. Remember, every extra dollar you spend on the manufactured unit multiplies into at least 4 extra dollars to the customer.

5. Also related to marketing, balanced circuitry is a branding strategy for several high end companies. There is a general perception that balanced connectors are better because they are used in professional audio. The target customers for these companies value the balanced feature and will pay more for it.

6. And finally, I can give you a non-speculative answer based on my own experience. I have a Krell KRC 2 preamp and a Krell KSA 300S amp. When I got the preamp recapped I tried hooking up my SACD player (which only has RCA connections) to my amp. I dug out the shorting pins from my audio parts drawer, installed them in the amp, and gave it a try. I got a persistent hum. I checked with my buddies on a Krell forum and they replied that it is simply not a good idea to try to run a KSA 300S using RCA cables. It was made to run balanced and it would be a hassle to try to track down the source of the hum. I also have a DAC with balanced outputs. I hooked it up to the amp and it worked perfectly. The balanced feature is a big marketing point for Krell and I saw firsthand that they are serious when they recommend using only balanced connections even when they provide RCA inputs. For the record, I have tried using RCA cables between my DAC and my preamp and I can’t hear any difference compared to using balanced cables.

If you decide to avoid speculation entirely and poll each manufacturer that only offers singe ended connections I would be interested in the results of your poll. I always prefer facts and evidence over speculation.