My goal has always been a fully balanced system. At the minimum, it has given a very quiet system and additional gain.
I have used the Rowland Consummate as well as the BAT VK5 with Rowland amps in fully balanced mode with great success.
If you are using a tube preamp with a solid-state amp, make sure you do not have impedance missmatch. Many tube preamps do not perform optimally with low-impedance amp (10k or less) despite claims to the contrary.