More on XLR vs RCA considerations?

"None of my wire runs exceed 4 feet and most are 2 feet or less"

if pre&amp plugged into the same power outlet (or strip) in your case there will be not much difference between rca<=>xlr. balanced xlr is a must for longer connections between devices, to avoid reflections and inter-chassis-ground noise impact on single ended signal reference, which directly reduces signal to noise ratio.  

The new preamp is true balanced circuitry. I have read that my amps are as well. All I can do is have a listen for myself if I try the XLR's. From the answers I'm getting, I doubt that I would appreciate an audible difference in a 4 foot run other than the 6db gain would be noticed. Beyond that, I don't know but as I say, all I can do is try it for myself sometime. I have never had any real complaints with RCA'a other than some that seem too tight, some too loose and having tried some cheap ones over the years, well, they were inferior in many ways, including audibly. Thanks again,

Bill

I switched en masse from Audioquest Columbia RCA to Audioquest Columbia XLR. In my system, XLR is quieter with absence of ground loops (I was able to get rid of a HumX on my cable modem). There was also more gain in my amp and preamp because of the removal of input circuit summing.

XLR was Unquestionably better in my apples to apples comparison.

Sometimes the output voltage is different between a SE and a balanced; I know it's that way with some DACs, like the Holo Audio May...  For whatever reason, a lot of tube headphone amps tend to be SE only. 

I have never had any real complaints with RCA'a other than some that seem too tight, some too loose and having tried some cheap ones over the years, well, they were inferior in many ways, including audibly.

Oh man, I HATE Cardas SRCAs and the absolute death-grip they apply to jacks. Here I think Audioquest did a pretty good job on their RCA plugs, though you better get used to the silver coatings getting black (is it really silver oxide, which is conductive, or silver tarnish, which is not?). 

These audio companies could use guys like me to actually use their products and complain about what they got wrong before a release :)