Balanced vs Non-Balanced XLR?

Don't forget about common noise rejection. I use balanced XLR throughout the whole rig even in analogue(swapped RCAs to to 5-din XLR).
The input voltage not always will be doubled. There are components that have XLR outputs that are not balanced. The truly balanced components have standard output voltage and decreased voltage from optional RCA outputs by 4dB so you won't overkill if you use XLR even onto the high-gain amp.
Sonically I can't and won't go back to RCA since i don't have to care much about wire quality.

I use atlas elektra xlr between krell kav500i and technics cd player sl-p2000 and agree with Marakanetz,don't wanna go back to rca.Quality of sound increased,less noise ,more gain

one more thing,I made xlr from rca,just because i found out that rca atlas elektra was balanced cable

It is not always true that your gain will double if you run balanced- that has to do with the design of the circuitry, even if it is differential.

Usually its to your advantage to use the balanced connection if the source is putting out a balanced signal and the input accepts it. If either are single-ended there usually is no advantage.

But once you hear what the advantage of balanced is all about, you won't want to go back :)

True differentially balanced components eliminate 2nd order harmonics, at least internally. What the speaker does is another story. From a purist point of view, distortion is distortion and the manufacturers that build this way must feel it's worthwhile to nearly double the parts count. It's not a fad.

We don't hear most distortion intrisically. Our ears and brains translate those into frequency anomolies. Personally, I've come to believe that we all prefer or expect some degree of distortion.

The topology is not an end, it's a means to an end. While it's reasonable to assume similar results from similar topology, attributing results purely to topology is idealistic. IOW, you get what you get.

In 'pro audio' the term, "servo-balanced" is often used in relation to conversion to single-ended internally. I happen to own an active crossover that uses this method in an otherwise fully balanced system from source to amps. Balanced crossovers are rare and expensive. Rarely, transformers are still used for this purpose.

There are fully balanced integrated's. Ayre and the Chinese brands, like Jungson, come immediately to mind. And if Emotiva can do it, it's not always a function of cost.