Suggestion on XLR Cables

@bradluke0

Just yesterday I had a very similar experience. Won’t bore anyone with the reason for doing it but changed out AQ Columbia XLRs between DAC and Preamp for Cardas Parsec SE. Was very surprised by the improvement heard. Both pieces are fully balanced and from the same mftr. Does the improvement reflect a difference in wire quality or (in this instance) an advantage of single ended vs balanced? I’ll have to try a Parsec XLR IC to decide.

@inna
I pretty much agree with bradluke though differences in wire are more complex than "more highs" vs "more warm". As system performance has improved judged by the intelligibility of vocals, separation of multi-tracked voices and instruments, increased stage depth and clarity of micro details (a partial list), I’ve found the effect of wire choices on the overall sound of the system to be more evident. Just like equipment components can be unhappily or happily combined resulting in that magical "synergy" from the most fortuitous combinations, it makes sense to choose wire that enhances the sound however you describe the sonic attribute it brings.

ghosthouse, I treat cables as components, no less no more, and I have found that the higher you go the more performance you extract from the same set-up without changing anything else. But I do not try to adjust the sound, only bring out more of it. I believe, that sound manipulation should be done at the level of speakers and maybe cartridge and table. The rest is 'wire with gain'. Our active components are really often better than they seem. No, my Redgum integrated will not sound as good as Gryphon with any cabling, there is always a limit, of course, but signal transmission importance is obvious to me.

"I treat cables as components...."

@inna - Agree 100% with that part of your statement; however, I see each link in the chain as an opportunity for "sound manipulation" with the ultimate goal being, as you say, "more of it", i.e., more music!

ghosthouse, I generally categorize audiophiles as belonging to two schools of thought - school of realists and school of dreamers or romantics. I mostly belong to the former with elements of the latter.
Also, I view speakers as both devices and even more as instruments.
Two equally good guitars may sound very different. When choosing speakers I choose the instrument first, device second, but both are important. The question of turntable and cartridge is a complicated one, but I would say that I choose more a device than instrument here.

Cables do have their own sound and can be used to fine tune systems. I was floored when I replaced the balanced Tara for a single ended Tara ...night and day . This is between an ayon 2s player and a Carry slp-05 preamp , so you are talking excellent pieces here . BTW.... nobody "needs balanced" connections . It was my buddy that told me to go back to single ended , he was right.