Balanced vs RCA Interconnects

As Cornfedboy suggests there’s more to it than “balanced or not”, or “which IC sounds good/better?” ...It’s a matter of how the component you are connecting was engineered to be operated. For example certain designs such as BAT or Sim Audio are fully balanced (circuit) designs that are intended to be operated with balanced connections. When configured in this manner such components can offer much greater resolution. I suspect that the only reason that companies such as these include RCA terminations is because they HAVE to (for the sake of flexibility). ...Then there are other companies who offer components with balanced connection options merely because it is expected - they are high caliber components, and the owner might want to run very long IC’s. Meanwhile these same components might have been engineered to sound best running single ended. Like so many other aspects of audio its all so very personal. Frequently compromises are necessary in order that we might own that incredible piece of gear we lust after. ...No matter that it might not be best suited to our system or physical circumstances.

i agree it's a worthwhile consideration on long runs, but can't see the reason on short runs, unless the product is specifically designed in a balanced configuration, as john_1 mentions...

Very interesting dialog. I have been considering this issue now that I have a BAT pre which is a balanced designed with single ended inputs and outputs added for flexibility. I have been using SE since my front end and amp have se only. I like the pre, but would also like to "see" (hear) what its like running balanced. Anyone with any comments on whether this would require changing front end and amp to realize the full benefit of this piece?

I have had mixed results in this arena, depending on the equipment in question. From my Mark Levinson 380 to Mark Levinson 335, balanced sounds best, hands down, no questions asked.

From my Sony SCD-1 to the ML 380, SE used to sound better than balanced, that is, a $15 pair of AudioQuest cables used to sound better to me than a $500 pair of Madrigal CZ-Gel... And then I got new speakers that are a little warmer and more coherent, and now the Balanced cables, to me, sound better hands down.

This is doubly odd as the SCD-1 was designed to be single-ended, and the balanced signal is generated artificially...

It's about the equipment, not just the cable. Like Awdee said, some equipment like BAT are designed with fully balanced circuits. Balanced won HANDS DOWN when I compared the 2 configs with Audio Magic Spellcaster IIs, which I have in both SE and balanced. Bass was alive, transients snapped, and there was an awesome difference in dynamics. Other equipment without balanced circuits might not exhibit the same improvement with the cable switch.