Depends. Many products convert balanced to single-ended after the input and then process the signal in single-ended mode. Other products are single-ended all the way thru and then have an additional stage at the output that provides a balanced out. In either case, it is unlikely to be advantageous to use the balanced in or out, as compared to the SE inputs and outputs on the same piece of gear. Only a few phono preamps are truly balanced from input to output. AFAIK, these include BAT, Ayre, Aesthetix Io (in spite of what someone wrote below), and Atma-sphere. In my opinion, there ARE some advantages to a balanced circuit in the latter case, noise and distortion cancellation being two of those advantages. Before purchasing a "balanced" input phono preamp, it would be wise to make inquiries as to what is really going on inside the unit. I think a lot of the reason folks are indifferent about the advantages of a balanced circuit is that they have not really heard one properly implemented.
