Talk to me about XLR connectors

[Easternlight]

So just got a new CD player and Amp.
These have XLR sockets as well as the usual RCA/phono plus optical connections.
the XLR's are new to me and a quick google shows a school of thought that these can be cheap and cherful, and they wont affect the sound,(?) not that that stops there being the normal loony priced interconnects available.
I've a half decent phono interconnet that I'm using at the moment and I've got some cheapo 0.3m XLR patch leads coming to try.
Anyone offer any advice/experiance.

[P700DEE]

XLR connectionsare balanced so you should get lower noise and they are much less cable dependent. Well worth trying.

[legzr1]

In a normal home setting where you’re not going to be routing interconnects alongside a myriad of high power cables and lengths in the hundreds of metres the only real difference you will hear is a (possible) higher output as a lot of sources output around twice the voltage via XLR as RCA.

[megaphone]

XLR's are usually wired to use a 'balanced' signal using proper twin screened cable, ideal for long runs and to avoid interference. Not needed if your CD is sitting next to the amp.

But no harm trying them as ready made cables are cheap enough, the connectors on cheap cables are not usually great, but if you're not plugging them in and out all the time, they'll be fine.

Let us know how you get on.

[Easternlight]

Thanks for the replies.
Still using the phono lead at the moment, it's my first upgrade of equipment for 15 years and up a couple of quality levels so the improvement is quite staggering, I'm going through the WOW stage.
When I've finished playing every CD I've got , I'll swap the leads about and report back

[seveb]

XLR connectors come from the pro-audio world (mainly stage) and have three significant benefits - they are large, very robust metal connectors so when thrown around a stage they don't break or get squashed (Neutrik for example, very nice, plus splash proof) They are three pin or more and provide for a balanced signal which helps reduce noise over long cable runs, mainly used for microphones. They are also locking so can not be pulled out by tugging on them.

I'd be very surprised if you could hear a difference in a home HiFi setup, even one using balanced signals.