Does balanced interconnect sound beter than RCA?

you have received some really good responses to your post. I would emphasize the importance of having components with fully balanced circuitry to receive the maximum benefit from balanced connectors. Most (or all) of the manufacturers of balanced design components recommend the use of balanced connectors. As Stenho points out, the implementation of a balanced design generally results in more expensive products. With the price competition they face, I doubt the manufacturers of upper end components would use balanced circuitry, if the benefits were negligible. I believe where most of the controversy comes into play is when people use balanced connectors with components that simply offer the convenience of a balanced input, without having a fully balanced design. In these cases, the effect may range from no difference to a degredation of sound due to additional circuitry required to accomodate the balanced inputs/outputs. My system is fully balanced from CD to Amp, and I am very happy with the sound using good balanced connectors. However, there are always exceptions. For example, Conrad Johnson uses all single ended designs and seem to believe the extra cost involved with balanced circuitry is superfluous for home audio.

"For example, Conrad Johnson uses all single ended designs and seem to believe the extra cost involved with balanced circuitry is superfluous for home audio."

What Dejan Veselinovic says makes a LOT of sense. Seems that with a filtered ground single ended connectors will outperform balanced in most instances. It is much cheaper to take care of the ground.

Thanks to all of you for the detailed responses. It appears that having the ability to use both types has value in that many factors may influence the ultimate performance of one versus the other in a given system.
Thanks,
jmillen

Aside from the interesting technical analysis given above, to my ears there are consistent sonic differences between the two that are neither good nor bad, just different flavors. I have owned SE systems and fully balanced systems. Most relevant for you would be my current setup, which is a Wadia 861 feeding into a Levinson 383 integrated amp. I have compared Cardas Neutral (or Golden) Reference XLR versus RCA interconnects between the CDP and amp (same length = 1.5M). The Wadia and ML both operate fully balanced. So... IMHO:

Generally the XLR offers more 3-dimensionality and "air" around the instruments, especially with more complex recordings. e.g., with symphonies XLR seems to sort out the soundstage better. But on smaller scale music such as a single guitar, the RCA seems to provide better focus and a more realistic size, whereas the XLR can sound a bit "diffuse". Generally, the leading edge of most bass notes seems more noticeable with RCA, yet the XLR can give better tone/harmonic definition in the bass. For most rock and jazz I like the RCA presentation. For classical I like XLR. Of course, like anything in audio, I encounter exceptions, e.g., even though solo piano is a single-instrument, I prefer the XLR elaboration of its 3-D characteristics and harmonics. My preference can also depend upon the recording quality of the CD. I've found that my impressions of XLR v. RCA cable are very similar to those of Jon Scull in his review of the Accuphase DP-75V CDP (Stereophile, July 2000, see on-line review).

But these differences are less than what you will hear between different product lines of CDP's and amps. If you find a SE CDP whose sound you really like, such as Naim or Cary, don't worry about what you are "missing" by not having XLR. If you find one with XLR outputs, be sure it is truely balanced before investing in an amp with XLR inputs (and make sure the amp operates fully balanced!). One important note, as stated above, a balanced system will be preferable if you must run very long cables.

Balanced lines make a big difference in my home system. Without them it hums.