Unbalanced to balanced VPI junction box change?

ZD, Ralph's contention just applies if certain criteria are met, and they are very often not met. See his post here, in which he explains further, and also offers what I consider to be a highly persuasive proof of that contention, at least for line-level interfaces.

I would add, though, that most high output cartridges, such as moving magnets, will not meet those criteria, and their response in the treble region can be profoundly affected by phono cable capacitance. Also, cable capacitance can even make a difference when it comes to low output moving coil cartridges. See this post by Lyra cartridge designer Jonathan Carr, starting with the paragraph that begins "I should now debunk another myth ...."

Best regards,
-- Al

Al has got that right. In addition Jonathan Carr's input mirrors my own experience in the design of phono preamps.

**As a general rule of thumb** if you can hear differences between balanced cables it means that some aspect of the balanced standard is not being supported/observed by the equipment involved.

I don't mean to derail the thread, but to add to Al's comment about high output cartridges (moving magnet), they are high enough impedance such that the cables play a role, not only that but I have yet to find one that loads properly at 47K. Usually to get them to sound right the actual correct load impedance is much lower- for example on many Grados the right load impedance seems to be around 8K-12K.

Sorry for the derail.

Harris , you would be surprised the benefits you would get from a decent isolation platform for your table like from Symposium and others.

Atmasphere.....I have a totally balanced system (all Ayre components) and can readily hear the difference in cables....

Converting to balanced is a no-brainer. Easy to DIY and plenty of adapters available if you don't know which end of a soldering iron to hold.