Sorry for the late reply, but I was on vacation when this thread was started, and I'm just getting back to looking at forums. I've used unbalanced interconnects for years without complaint. However, when I got the 990 and 7700, I decided to try the balanced connections. I am using the Parts Express Dayton line of XLR cables and am quite happy with them. I have made too many changes to my system to honestly evaluate any difference between my previous use of unbalanced cables versus the new setup with balanced cables. Both seem to perform more than adequately in my setups which feature short runs. I've never used an interconnect longer than 12 feet, and typically most of my equipment is connected with 3 and 6 foot cables. With analog inputs, I don't know of any non-pro-sound equipment aside from amps and preamps that use balanced connects. So, there's really not much to be gained if the connection from the record, disk, or tape player is unbalanced. In my new setup, I have no analog inputs at the moment (BDP-83 will change that in the near future), so there might be some advantage to using balanced interconnects between the pre/pro and amp. However, unless you've got a long run in a EMI/RFI "noisy" environment, you'll probably be hard-pressed to notice any difference.

Happy listening,
Bill