balanced vs. unbalanced sound quality

QUOTE, "Reduce NOISE, and NOT INCUR significant sginal loss, due to EXREME cable lengths." THERE you have it! That's exactly why balanced cables were developed, for professional use. The environment DICTATED it. Many power lines/transformers(RFI/EMI) and long cable runs inhabiting the same venue. If you don'r have a lot of cables in the immediate vicinity of your interconnects, you won't have a lot of noise. 1 Meter IS NOT an extreme cable length. If your preamp and amp are not both differentially balanced; your presentation may actually suffer. The only way to know for certain, is to experiment.

I just tried the balanced inputs on my pre and amp and noticed a big increase in overall quailty. I agree with Aaronmadler, both of the makers of my gear recommended the balance inputs and in my case they are right . By all means try it!

Balanced

It depends on which preamp you are using. Does your preamp have XLR outputs? Or are you trying to use a RCA-XLR adaptor with a balanced cable?

One thing I would like to make you aware of. If by "higher end" you mean higher price, it doesn't automatically translate into better sound, it only means higher price.

This debate comes along often. It really depends on the components involved as there are numerous varibles. For short cable runs there`s no clear winner(very long runs favor balance cables).Some of the very best cost no object components are single end design per builder preference. Try both and see what you like best.