There can be no hard and fast rule as to length beyond which balanced is likely to be better as it depends of course on the electromagnetic fields through which the cables pass, and how good the shielding is (in respect of which price is no indication), and very possibly on the specific gear being connected.
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Theres a thought my exposure shoe box amps at the speaker end.
Frees up some rack space and could save a small fortune in speaker cable!
I donāt think exposure apply the same min speaker cable length like Naim
So true, but for how much longer?
Roger
No, Naim is the only brand of which I am aware that uses the speaker cable to as part of the loading of the amplifier. In general apart from Naim, the shorter the speaker cable the better.
I suppose until they become aware of an increasing number of audio files using balanced cables, and hence a ripe market of People seemingly very willing to part with money given clever marketing promises
There is a little bit of info on another thread regarding XLRs. I think the expensive brigade are already making inroads. 
It will depend on the pre and power amp in question and how the connection, balanced or single-ended, has been engineered.
Balanced can be good or bad, whether fully balanced or pseudo balanced, but it is not automatically better than single-ended, which can likewise be good or not so good, depending on how it has been applied and engineered.
Itās worth reading Naimās white paper on their own choice of impedance balanced connection in the latest New Classic kit. It can currently be downloaded from the Tom Tom Audio site and should be on the Naim site soon.
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It is important to distinguish between XLRs, which are simply a (good) design of plug/socket, and balanced cables and their connections which most commonly are XLRs. I may be mistaken (@Richard.Dane ?), but I donāt think Naimās use of XLRs, for the consumer market at least, is anything to do with balanced cables, Richardās reference to balanced impedance being something different.
Fully balanced between pre and power in the New Classic range, IIUC, and according to the Naim white paper downloaded from Tom Tomā¦
I might not UC though!
āFully electronically balanced inputs on pre-amps and power-ampsā
Someone more knowledgeable needs to read it X)
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Barring the professional studio NAB300 and NAP250PRO amps, Naimās use of XLRs has traditionally been for single ended use. This changed though with the Statement amp (and continued with the New Classic range) where the connection between pre and power amps using Cannon XLRs is balanced.
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Ditto thanks for additional clarification from @Richard.Dane and @gthack.
Just for clarity in the linked thread the topic is concentrating on the new classic range and whether or not people had tried more boutique XLR cables or not and what, if any, differences were noticed.
There have been premium high end balanced cables for a long time. Mark Levinson, Audio Research had their own specifically made for their equipment. Also AudioQuest, Cardas, Nordost, pretty much everyone does Balanced interconnects. I kind of feel bad for those that have to demean everything they donāt understand.
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Balanced cables & connections using XLR connectors, are the ānormā in professional audio, where long cable runs are often needed and noise is to be minimised.
(information above from Wikipedia)
Your favourite band (*) - or orchestra - was undoubtedly recorded using balanced connectionsā¦ 
(* - Electric Guitars are a problem as they do not - normally - have balanced outputs.
This is where a DI box comes in, if a direct connection is wanted, for recording.
Reports say that for Led Zeppelinās Black Dog, Jimmy Pageās guitar was DIāed, straight into the Mixing Desk. )
It would be most interesting where people have done blind comparisons - which is very easy to do given a willing accomplice, but surprisingly uncommonā¦
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Balanced has mostly a big ballsy sound.
Single ended has mostly a more nimble nuanced sound.
Not something Iāve ever noticed, nor is there any logical explanation fr such a difference?
Balanced usually has a higher gain that drives the preamp stage harder.
When used between pre and power amp the preamp is not driven by the balanced linkā¦ there may be higher gain meaning that in effect the preamp is āworking harderā - however that may be balanced either by the volume control being set lower or by the power amp having lower gain. As a case in point my power amp, which has a choice of balanced or single ended inputs, says the following:
The 1v setting is used when the source is single-ended, or from a transformer coupled balanced source. Gain - 29 Noise -110 dB.
The 2v setting is used when the sources output is actively balanced.
Use this setting with any systems where the volume control rotation is limited to the bottom half of the control or less. Gain - 23 dB. Noise -113 dB.
Actually balanced outputs are always double the output of single ended outputs. Also balanced outputs usually will have a lower noise floor due to the noise rejection properties of balanced topology
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