Pass XONO - stories from the front?

Well, actually, I borrowed a pair of Monitor 0 RCAs to try it. It is difficult to generalize because the balanced outs have so much greater volume, but they simply seemed cleaner and more precise. I had the same impression comparing balanced and unbalanced Cardas Golden Reference, but that was much briefer, and the RCAs were 1 meter while the XLRs were 1/2.

Thanks Mgottlieb. The NBS Monitor O is one of the best cables on the planet. It would be unfair to compare Monitor 0 XLR to anything else RCA. What RCA did you use for your A/B comparison?
I am fascinated by the number of phonopreamps with XLR IN and/or OUT (Pass, Rowland, Blue Amp, etc.). I thought heavy XLR plugs would interfere with a delicate low-level MC signal. Why XLR? A dealer and I discussed this for awhile and he kept on repeating that the phono signal is "the only TRUE BALANCED SIGNAL in the entire stereo system" but looking back he has always tried to get me to run me equipment XLR whether it is the Stax driver unit or the amps.

Interesting. I have an Aleph Ono - first gen - in my system and I heard no difference between single ended and balanced using several different cables for each option.

Have had one since November. It is a significant advance over the Aleph ONO, which already was very good. Have only used one cartridge (Koetsu Rosewood Signature) and one phono cable (Cardas Golden Reference) and changed cables to preamp (Pass X-1, replacing the Aleph P) from balanced Golden Reference to balanced NBS Monitor 0. Worked beautifully with all, but after one brief try, it was clear that X-ONO likes balanced output cables much better.