I use balanced inputs on my phono stage. It helps quite a bit, I heard it with the same cable run with with rca's and then a 2nd cable with xlrs.
However, I think this is very dependent on the phono stage design. My BAT VKp10SE-superpak has a fully balanced input. Others like the steelhead don't. The Aesthetix have a single ended input, then balanced in the other gain stages and output.
So, I wouldn't pick a phono stage just for a balanced input. In my system, it is wonderful though.
However, I think this is very dependent on the phono stage design. My BAT VKp10SE-superpak has a fully balanced input. Others like the steelhead don't. The Aesthetix have a single ended input, then balanced in the other gain stages and output.
So, I wouldn't pick a phono stage just for a balanced input. In my system, it is wonderful though.