@jim2 Just for the record that wasn’t exactly my advice. My advice was that if you gear supports AES48 then you likely will hear little or no difference at all between cables as long as the cable is built correctly.
The Mogami is a good quality studio cable and compared to cables around today is really inexpensive. It also uses polyethylene dielectrics (not PVC- that is only used for the jacket).
I don’t know if the Ayre preamp supports AES48 or not but the RCA outputs along with the XLR output suggests it does not. You’d have to ask them to know.
Ralph, there is a switch on the back of the VX-5 Twenty amp for switching between Balanced and RCA. "Zero Feedback" and "Fully Balanced Differential Circuitry" are fundamental to Ayre equipment. I did mention the insulation on the Mogami is PE and the jacket is PVC.
Perhaps you remember this interaction you had with the late Charlie Hansen of Ayre regarding "Balanced"? You referred to him as one of the great Solid State designers. The "Ralph" he mentioned here to is you...
I presume you're both doing it right.