All things being equal (hypothetical) which do you prefer, XLR or RCA?


Hello All,

Just curious here. All things being equal would you go balanced or unbalanced if you have the option for both? I only ask because I've never really compared-though I have gone both routes at different times. I have gone the balanced route now (power amp to pre, and DAC to pre), but wonder which route you all would choose...Just curious and having some fun...
kingbr
I usually always go with RCA cables because of the usual increased gain with balanced cables. I have a lot of high sensitivity speakers and RCA just work better for me in my system.
Had a slight buzz with RCA cables between my Marantz Pre-Amp and my Classe Sigma2 Amps on only 1.5 meter runs, all on a rack mounted system. I tried everything to get rid of that ground loop, everything powered through the same 20Amp breaker and Audioquest Niagara.

Switched to XLR - all gone and couldn’t be happier. I’m sold. XLR not just for long cable runs.
XLR.  My Digital Amplifier Co amps only have an XLR input.  They are supplied with a proprietary RCA to XLR adaptor.  My shortest run is 15 feet.
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