I have the 4B-SST and the BP-26 with the Dac option. I have tried Monster RCA's, Analysis Plus Solo Crystals RCA's, Nordost Wyreworld Dreamcaster XLR's, and Wireworld Eclipse 5 XLR IC's. I could not hear a great difference between the Nordost which I own and the Wireworld which I tested. However, the Wireworld was new, and I did not have the time to break it in. I found a good deal on Wireworld Polaris 5 XLR's, and I will use these between amp and pre-amp, and between pre-amp and cd player. I would strongly recommend you stick to your plan to use an XLR connection hear. Try to find the best deal you can, before you buy with either new or used IC's, speaker cables or power cords. I would not recommend you spend a fortune on your wires. Put your money in a better cd player, a second digital pre-amp, or speakers. Hope this helps.