XLR cables for a reasonable price?

@veerossi don't even get me started. I was supposed to be waiting a few months to jump into the MP3.3 lagoon, and hearing this has me really curious. I've enjoyed my cable tweaking, but haven't gotten to RCA'S yet so if I can skip this step and go fully balanced and not need to wonder "what if", I'm all in. What pre did you come from before and what do you think about the RCA and swapping to balanced on the MP3.3?

@atmasphere hey Ralph, why don't we have a balanced speaker cable yet? Is this possible?

@j-wall

I was going to wait as well, but I came across a nice deal I couldn’t turn down on a MP3.3. I’ve only had integrated gear until now. This is my first set of monoblocks and first time using a separate preamplifier. I’ve gone through lots of gear in the past and most of it used RCA’s. I’ve tried from the bottom-of-the-line RCA’s to top-of-the-line and DIY as well. The results were all over the board. My DIY’s with Duelund wire, their RCA connectors, and Cardas solder sounded better to me than some of top brand cables. It was a pleasant surprise.

This is my first time with gear where I’m using the balanced/ XLR connections. I’ve only tried 2 XLR brands so far, but I’m pleased with my current setup This combo of gear with the Mogami’s sounds wonderful to me. My gear and cable chasing days are over. Now, on to the next part of my journey: room treatment.

If your dealer has an MP3.3 configured the way you want- grab it. YOLO...or whatever the kids say nowadays. It transformed my system and I have nothing but good things to say about it. BTW: I was using the Lumin streamer LeedH volume control direct to the monoblocks before it.

It appears that many here maybe missing the premiss of how/why this thread was started.  The premiss being that if your preamp and amp meet the balanced standard you should not hear a difference between properly constructed XLR interconnects when the XLR interconnects are used between a preamp and amp that meet the balanced standard.  It has nothing to do with RCA cables or other types of cables or many other things as many continue to talk about. If you do hear a difference between XLR interconnects when they are used to connect a preamp to an amp then chances are the preamp and/or amp do not meet the balanced standard.  It does not necessarily mean that the preamp and amp are not quality components. Quite the contrary, there are quality audio components that do not meet the balanced standard. What is does mean is that to improve SQ you may have to spend more money on interconnects and/or continue to chase you tail if your preamp and amp do not meet the standard.  Again, I thought that is what was asked in the original OP and how this discussion at least got started.  Can we all at least agree on that :-).

I sure can. One of the problems, and a big one, as I see it, is Ralph's endless self-advertising. As if there were no other good amps or engineering approaches. There are, and many. I believe that manufacturers and dealers should be honorably dismissed. It doesn't matter how much knowledge and skill they might have, this is not a proper place for them to be.

Mogami 2534 with Furutech 701 balanced connectors, personally I prefer the 701's to the much more expensive 601 series, Take Five Audio has everything you need to build your own or they can professionally terminate the cables for you. A professional quality termination on your balanced cable is going to matter more than the actual cable used in this application but Mogami cables perform above and beyond their price level add a great connector and Gene's skill at building cables you end up with a cable that is very tough to beat.