I think one needs to draw a clear distinction between a typical professional audio situation such as a recording studio or concert venue and a home environment.

In the professional environment, there are typically a number of long wire runs at very low voltages (microphones) or line level. There is also usually far more equipment powered up and running in a commercial setting. The potential for noise pickup in a 75' microphone cable with dozens of preamps, amps, processors, equalizers, recorders and so on nearby is at a whole different level than a 3' wire run from a home CD player to a preamp or amp.

So, the first question for the home user would be whether his cables are picking up noise that is interfering with the music. Even if "yes" the problem may be easily solved with a better shielded unbalanced cable.

The next question - if you have a setup you absolutely love, but does not have balanced connections - do you discombobulate yourself by starting a search for new equipment in order to fix something that doesn't seem to be causing a problem?

I've run both ways at home, and once you adjust for the volume gain in a balanced setting, I've never been able to tell the difference. As such, I don't worry about the issue.