a friend of mine owns an ND5 XS 2 and is planning to buy a pair of Buchardt active speakers. These have Balanced / Unbalanced XLR connectors as inputs.
How can both components be connected for the best possible playback quality?
The Buchardts do not have an RCA input, so DIN to RCA is not an option.
Which pre-amp will your friend be using? The ND5XS2 is a source component so your friend will need some sort of pre-amp to front the active speakers, at the very least to provide proper volume control.
The problem here is that the ND5XS2 does not have a proper volume control, merely a variable volume that is included because it’s needed for certain accreditations. You’ll never get best quality using it this way, so running active speakers directly from it isn’t a great plan. The Atom HE would be a much better bet here, and has balanced XLRs for an ideal connection. I’d suggest to your friend that they swap one for the other.
In the meantime, RCA to unbalanced XLR should work, wiring as specified by the speaker manufacturer.