which turntable or how to convert to balanced phono setup?

Except the general consensus is that the XLR connector is inherently superior to the RCA connector, balanced or not.  I'm just repeating what I have read on other websites populated by knowledgeable hobbyists.  Not to mention that it looks that way to me too. And "he" needs an XLR cable if he is plugging into a balanced phono that offers only XLR inputs. I know there are adapters available but that is not the optimal way to go. I would rather say that an RCA connection is OK in a pinch, in balanced mode, but not the best way to do it. That's only my opinion.

Sorry to be so pedantic, but it is not the turntable (or the tonearm) that is "balanced".  It is the cartridge; any (modern) cartridge can be connected so as to drive the phono stage in balanced mode, if the phono stage has a balanced input. No matter what any manufacturer says, it is a simple matter to convert any cartridge output from SE to balanced. If you can solder, you can do a conversion from SE to balanced yourself.  If your tonearm leads are color coded as is typical, then White goes to pin2 of the L channel XLR. Blue goes to pin3 of the L channel XLR. Red goes to pin2 of the R channel XLR, and Green goes to pin3 of the R channel XLR, once you have removed the RCA plugs. But again, there is nothing to be gained unless you have a balanced phono stage. If you plug an XLR into a single-ended stage, pin3, which would carry the negative phase signal in balanced mode, goes to ground inside the SE phono stage, and you are back where you started.

For my part, I neglected to mention that a feaux balanced input can be implemented using a transformer at the input driving a single-ended circuit. Some commercial components do that. This offers some of the benefits of balanced operation.

Elliott, Is it not the case that your Mac MX110 preamplifier is single-ended, at least the phono stage?  If so, it is certainly no wonder that you heard no improvement with an XLR cable; the benefits if any are to be had if and only if the internal circuitry is balanced. In the case of a phono cartridge, it is a balanced device that we commonly use in single-ended mode by grounding one side of its output. If you connect that grounded side instead to the negative phase input of a balanced circuit, you get the benefits of added gain and noise cancellation.  I do agree that a noise-free and hum free SE connection using SE components, if you can achieve it, is not noticeably inferior to balanced mode, even when the equipment permits it.

The idea that an XLR cable per se gets you into balanced mode is false but it persists. As for using an RCA connection in balanced mode, it can work OK, IF the cable contains two equal conductors, one for SE hot or the positive phase of a balanced signal, and one for SE ground, or the negative phase.  The shield if any should NOT be connected to the ground side (which becomes negative phase) at either end, in the case where you want to use an RCA cable in balanced mode. (Some inexpensive RCA cable use the shield to carry ground and otherwise contain only a single conductor, for the hot side.)