Best phono stage balanced under $3000 used

Manitunc, The reason for the general lack of balanced connectors on the ends of tonearm cables seems to be the general lack of balanced inputs on phono stages. Very few phono stages are truly balanced internally, so in most cases there is nothing to be gained by using XLR male connectors and XLR input jacks for phono. Where the phono stage is truly balanced, it is a worthwhile modification. So, I might add, if your phono stage is not electrically balanced, don't bother.

OK, lets assume your phono stage IS balanced. In that case you want to be sure that the signal from each end of the phono cartridge is being carried on conductors of equal quality. In typical RCA phono cables, the "hot" output from the cartridge is carried on a quality conductor surrounded by a shield. However, the "ground" output is often connected to the shield itself, and both are connected to the ground side of the RCA jack at the other end (the phono stage input). If you put an XLR connector on that cable, you would want to separate and isolate the shield and the lead from the cartridge from each other. This may require running another conductor inside the shield. I don't think all RCA-terminated phono cables are constructed this way, but some are.

I haven't read all the posts here, so if this is redundant, I apologize.

Absolutely agree on the Rhea. Got mine here for $2,200 - $600 in tubes and I'm in heaven.

Both my PS Audio GCPH and SimAudio LP5.3 have balanced inputs and outputs. My Classe 30 has balanced inputs and outputs and my Classe CA100 has balanced inputs. I assume they are electrically correct. So if I run this balanced phono cable from my SME345 to either phono preamp, I should have a fully balanced output at the end. I think

Manitunc, the advantage of running the cartridge balanced is the fact that the balanced cable will have no effect on the sound.

The balanced system was in fact devised to eliminate cable artifacts. In doing so cable length is less important as is the cost. So if you have spent either a great deal of time auditioning single ended cables, or have spent a lot of money for the one you thought sounded right, with a balanced setup neither the former or latter will be necessary.

Sounds like a good thing