Preamps with balanced ins/outs and remote

Look at PASS LABS XP-10, too. It has a remote and balanced and unbalanced outputs, both.

... I am indeed saying that you need the low output impedance even if you are not driving a low impedance load...So true, you want the signal to drop across the load, not the preamplifiers output circuit. Its a simple voltage divider rule. The lower the amplifier's input impedance becomes, the more important the pre amplifiers output impedance becomes(need it to be LOW).

...It is the balanced standard that allowed the record labels to do the job that they did back in the late 50s (often known as the Golden Age of Stereo), when exotic high-buck cables did not exist... So true again. Listen to an old Peter Paul and Mary record, like the very first one, fantastic.

Atmasphere is 100% correct, except that most high buck cables are not really made right, just expensive.

I don't think you'll get true balanced circuits all the way through for 1K. Maybe a buffered input that is balanced, but it eventually goes unbalance into the overall gain strage. Why? It cost twice, or more, as much to be fully balanced all the way through. A cheater plug that uses just PIN 2 referenced to ground is common. This is done all the time to accommodate those with XLR's.