Go with the longer cable. It's much easier to manage.
Balanced cables are used in professional recording because a balanced connection is much better at rejecting noise for long runs. It's not unusual to have cable runs that are 50 feet or more in a studio and even longer for live music. Professional gear doesn't have RCA connectors. Nobody would use them.
Balanced architecture in an audio component is more expensive to implement. I have vintage Krell components with balanced connections and I do run balanced cables on them. However, I only have two balanced inputs on my preamp and I have several sources with balanced outputs. I have compared single ended RCA cables (Blue Jeans) with balanced cables on a few different components into the preamp and I can't hear the difference. But my amp is a different story.
I have a Krell KSA 300S amp that has balanced inputs as well as single ended inputs. I have tried both (you need shorting plugs in the balanced inputs if you run single ended cables) and there is clearly a difference in this application. The single ended option is much noisier. I found this when I sent my preamp in to be recapped (I hooked up a different preamp that only has RCA connectors) and upon further investigation I learned that Krell does not recommend using the single ended connections on this amp. Interestingly, the new D'Agostino amps do not even include single ended connectors.
My opinion is that if you have equipment that has balanced connectors then you should use balanced cables whenever possible. The manufacturer spent extra money on this feature so you might as well use it. But I think you would be challenged to hear a difference between a source component and your preamp.