Very interesting info, I now know a lot more thanks to you all!
I'll check out the ones you mention - AudioSpecials Phonolab has a sort of 'mini XLR' connection I've never seen before.
I tried XLR/balanced all the way on my Elac PPA-2, and it sounds awesome. I was curious about tube (or hybrid) balanced options. I tend to stay away in general from hot running gear as I am located in south FL and have a small listening room, but expect that there are phono stages that don’t emit that much heat (I have had a tube phono preamp which was nice and didn’t run too warm, single-ended though).
I realize I forgot to mention that MC is preferred as I use a Sumiko Starling cart and want to avoid step up transformer.