Balanced vs Unbalanced?

On Ayre equipments, using balanced connections makes a world of difference - a lot of it. Don't bother getting Ayre if you intend to run rcas.

All things being equal, truly balanced is no better than single ended. Without regard to any budget considerations I only use single ended.

My sources run through 3 stages of gain before reaching the speakers. Three triode tubes. I have no noise unless I put my ear up to my speakers. I see no reason to complicate things by adding a bunch of extra stuff.

As somebody said earlier this has been debated to death. I haven't read anything so far that hasn't been said in numerous threads, including what I said.

There is no fundamental difference in sound quality between "balanced" and "single-ended" circuits. The major upside to balanced circuits is that they are less susceptible to correlated noise picked up by interconnects, ground loops and power supplies since the balanced circuit floats inside its own insulated world.

Agreed.

I would add that balanced usually has a higher signal level (pro audio).

I would add that ground loops are quite often a problem if you talk about audiophile quality with recordings that have tremendous dynamic range. However for your average Green Day of Red Hot Chilli Peppers hyper-compressed releases there is unlikely to be any audible difference between RCA and balanced.

One question about balanced and amplifiers. I know sources and preamps need to have true balanced topology to make use of balanced's advantages. Is this true when the signal reaches its final stage of electronics - the amplifier? Or is this where the balanced signal is ultimately converted to a simpler signal to drive the speakers? How does balanced work in an amplifier? IE - compared to amplifiers that have XLR in but don't employ true balanced?