If my turntable only has SE outputs and my Phono Pre has both SE and XLR outputs, is there any benefit to using the XLR outputs to my PreAmp or should I stick to SE?
well from my understanding phono carts are inherently balanced so it is easy to add a balnaced cable to them. I've never done it or know anyone that has. I believe you have to rewire the tone arm as well.
"If my turntable only has SE outputs...." Please clarify. Does your turntable have female RCA output jacks built into it? Or are you referring to the fact that you are using interconnects that have single-ended male RCA jack terminations? In either case, you can convert to balanced output from your cartridge, but tell us more. Is your phono stage a true balanced design? If not, then there is nothing to be gained by deriving a balanced output from your cartridge.
... rca outputs on turntable, feeding a Simaudio Moon 610lp ...
Most turntables have a ground wire and separate grounds for left and right channels. That results in a balanced (perhaps more correctly, "floating") signal. The facts that the connectors are RCAs doesn't necessarily mean it's not a balanced signal.
I would experiment with sending the signal from the phono stage to the preamp with a good balanced XLR cable set and see how or if it sounds different compared to RCA. If there is an advantage I would hope it is audible. In my setup I have RCA in from the TT to the phono stage and then I run XLR from the stage to the preamp due to the long run, over 30 feet. It sounds amazing.
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