Newbie balanced cable help

Aud--I'd say BJ cables get you at least 90% of the way there. Surprisingly good top to bottom, no real minuses to my ears. In my experience, balanced cables are much less susceptible to the vagaries of RCAs. The RCA connector should've died w/ Beta, but they took hold in the consumer marketplace and here we are. At least some improvements have been made with the Eichmanns and others. But the superiority of the XlR connector is unsurpassed short of hard wiring.
Lrdmax, you don't mention your amp, but I hope you're balanced all the way. Long cables do not sonically suffer as RCAs do. In one rig, I have 25' to the amp, and the rack at my fingertips. In my big rig, 11' of BJC mate the amp and preamp quite nicely. Both cables are skinny and unremarkable in appearance but play tunes with aplomb. If you want to try some balanced cables, I have a few to loan for audition without obligation. We can chat off-thread if you like. Welcome to Balanced World. Everyone else is...unbalanced!

Tripper, I just got Silver Ref MkII in XLR and these are a huge improvement over AU24 XLRs. I was shocked.

Thanks for the offer to let me try the BJCs in my system, but right now my amp is single ended. I will most likely be getting it upgraded so it'll have balanced inputs. Then I may take advantage of your offer. I appreciate it though. Thanks.

Aud--Can't argue with your pick. Nice rig! You think going balanced on McC is worth it? Don't know what they're charging, but the amp is pretty sweet as is. Of course, a balanced input is an ideal tweak, esp with your upstream componentry.
I, too, wonder how the BJCs would stack up against the AZs. That Robert Lee is indeed a "legendary cable design artist"!
Enjoy the music.