Balanced interconnects advice

XLR connections will only make a difference if your electronics are specifically designed for them. Most companies put XLR connections on as an means for the piece to have an ultra high end aura. In order for the piece to really be balanced, it needs a totally separate circuit for the + and - halves of the waveform. This makes the piece much more expensive than one that is only single ended...even with XLR plugs.

I just went to XLR for first time last week. Searching around for info I found a tech site that stated all XLR cables properly made are the same, sound the same, etc.

Found this nice basic explanation of the differences also:
http://www.clarkeaudio.com/article_balance.htm

I went with the Audio Art IC-3 very nice for the price, def a upgrade over the RCA. thanks all

My favorite lately has been the very budget minded Audience entry level product called the "Conductor." You should be able to get them in balanced. They are really good copper ICs.

I like using Morrow Audio cables with my Jolida gear. I don't have the Jolida Fusion preamp you have but I have their DAC 2 and the 502P amp. I use Morrow Audio MA2 level ICs and XLRs with my Jolida gear. I have no sonic issues at all with the MA2s in place.

If you haven't already done so, before investing in a relatively expensive cable I would make a point of assessing how the sonics of the XLR outputs of the preamp compare to those of the fixed RCA outputs you are probably now using. It seems very conceivable that the sonics of the preamp's fixed RCA outputs could be preferable to the sonics of its apparently volume-controlled XLR (and RCA) outputs.

If you don't already have any XLR cables available to try, you might consider purchasing a pair of relatively inexpensive Mogami Gold Studios to try. And who knows, you might find their performance in your system to be just as good as a $500 cable.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

Audio Art and Cabledyne are the ones I use. Headphones are Oppo PM-1.