"But part of the appeal...."
But how much of that appeal is really important if you have short runs and no noise issues. I always thought the real benefit of balanced stuff was the connectors and as a solution to noise when used in long runs, i.e. like in a recording studio.
OP, IMHO if you like your present IC’s and pre-amp just use a converter plug. Otherwise you have to go through the painful and expensive process of developing a new and synergistic system, pre-amp & IC’s.
FWIW.
BTW, the first time I had a fully balanced set up I liked my unbalanced cables sonics better than my first set of balanced cables (25ft long!).