Balanced vs. Single Ended Interconnects


From your experience, would you expect a higher quality single ended interconnect or an entry level balanced interconnect to sound better when connecting two balanced components?

More specifically, I will be connecting a Denafrips Ares ii to a Pathos Classic One Mkiii and I currently have Audioquest Sydney RCA interconnects.  Is it worth getting some cheap Monoprice XLR cables or should I just wait until I can justify purchasing something from Audioquest (probably Red River or Belden BAV) in the future.   

- robot

mceljo

Showing 2 responses by ohlala

I tried XLR mogami vs Purist Proteus RCA (5m) from an unbalanced crossover or preamp to a fully differential amp. The Purist sounded like Purist and the XLRs sounded more distorted, which was the least surprising outcome. 

My interpretation of an old almarg post is that some noise rejection may occur connecting XLR with just one of the units being balanced, so I gave it a try.