There have been some great posts in this thread. The answer seems to be “it depends”.
One thing I’d like to add - when you use unbalanced cables the signal ground is the shield ground and also can be the chassis ground. This can lead to small currents running in the shield, which in turn can cause hum. That doesn’t happen in a well designed balanced system. I also like XLR connectors better than the RCA connectors.
But in the end if the runs are short you should try both single ended and balanced connections and see which one sounds best.
Tom
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