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Bought a $50 balanced cable from Amazon. First one came with a short on the right side cable so bad you had to hold it in a specific position to get any sound. The replacement is better - it works once you fiddle with the 4.4mm side a bit, so that may be the cable or my 4.4 to XLR adapter (never had issues with the adapter before). Planning to return it too, and don't feel like giving them a third chance.

I have a couple 2.5 to XLR and a 4.4 to XLR adapter and may use the Denons with portable players in the future, so a 2.5 or 4.4 termination would be preferable to XLR, but if you can get something good quality cheaper going to XLR that's fine.

I'm not a "cables make a difference in sound" guy and am not looking for discussion or input on that front, I just want a cable that's well made and isn't going to short out or have issues for a reasonable price. I would have thought $50 was plenty there, and maybe it is and I've just been looking in the wrong place.

Thanks for any help.

Edit: Thieaudio Phantom XLR cable... Would this work? Do the Phantom use 3.5mm mono terminations? I've read this is a nice cable, so $65 isn't bad.

Edit2: apparently got mixed up. The Denons use 2.5mm mono terminations. "Meze 99" cables might be a good choice?

 

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Got the Meze 99 "upgrade" 2.5mm cable. Returning the others.