AudioQuest vs Cardas XLR

@jeffreyw what interconnect cables are you using now? Length? 

@jafant At one time not long ago, Cardas was guilty of this practice as well.

False, not authentic Cardas. Fake counterfeits are guilty of this.

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Authentic Cardas Pure Copper is mined in the Southwest USA and processed the Northeast USA. Part of the cable mfg in Southern California, final assembly terminations, quality checks, packaging and shipping in Bandon, Oregon. Some may be surprised who else uses Cardas copper too.

I’m a 30+ year Cardas owner, several different models. While I’ve tried all sorts of other cables/brands in between, all of my interconnects, digital, speaker cables on my primary system are authentic Cardas Audio. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

Agree, it’s unfortunate how a few spread false information without regard for damage or impact to a business. I for one would expect nothing less from Angela, Josh, Brian, and others at Cardas than to stand up and inform the uninformed.

Thank You @cardasa, and to the crew, your Cardas Community has your back.

@jeffreyw The funny thing, many have steered me away from the Cardas/McIntosh synergy, considering my wishes to liven up the highs.

@jeffreyw Its a final tuning and balancing act. Similar to how each of the different McIntosh amplifiers exhibit a slightly different type of sound and presentation, and so do different type/design cables you are currently using and looking at now. As a former owner and tester of various AQ, Cardas, Analysis Plus, I’d venture to suggest two focus areas - if you must change cables first. Your particular and much older OFC AP copper Oval 9 speaker cables and more recent OFC Mogami Gold interconnects are [both] not allowing the higher tip top frequency to come through for your Kef Ref 1 Metas, imo. Your current cables can even be weighty, plump in midrange imo, overcasting the highs some. Taketh away. a And, if you pick older Cardas design (pre-Clear) line cables instead of something like latest Clear or Clear Beyond in Cardas, change w/b minimal, likely not what you want. I’d go after your speaker cables first, then ICs next. You can squeak out more detail for sure. I’ll go out on limb here and will get blasted by nimrod cable-nay-sayers, and don’t care...fwiw. When the chime in, ask specifically what they’ve tried, first hand.

Demos: #1 If I were in your shoes, given your current investment in amps and such, find a local dealer who can loan you cables to try, best bet. This is how I discovered the right AP/Crystal or Cardas/Clear or Apature/Silver over copper in prior systems. The std older generic OFC can sound "weighty" and lacking highs in some brands and designs. #2 With no local dealers, TheCableCo loaner-buy program or #3, TMRAudio or MusicDirect [check] with a return policy helps add some demo-trials and helps take some guess out. DM me, got contacts for you.

Cardas: Tip: i.e. knowing the rich Mcintosh sound in some of the pres/amps, you could probably stand [for example] to move away from your older std OFC stuff with your current speaker cables/interconnects up to really good Crystal/OCC or Silver over copper, or current generation Cygnus or new Clear line with Cardas. These can be more neutral though, heads up if you are a bass head. If you wanna cheat on price with Cardas avoiding Clear Beyond, call them and ask for Brian or Josh. Be sure to ask about 4-wire "Cygnus". I’ve done some factory demo’ing with them, and given feedback over the years. Right now I’m testing and comparing Cardas Clear Reflection vs. Cygnus in my own rig - testing with different sources. Cygnus allows more detail/highs to come through at my sources. More neutral, but nice tip-top-highs come in. If I want more richness, I flip it, putting Clear Reflection at the Source, and putting the Cygnus between the preamp and amps. It’s a fun way to have both options, simply swapping source, preamp and amp cables.

Clear Reflection has detail yet can be a tad more weighty presentation than Cygnus or standard "Clear", still available too. Clear Reflection has some golden tone, split with old/new Cardas clear designs You may not want this result in your Mc rig, I sense you have some of that now with your older gen OFC 9 Blk/Yellow speaker cables, and current "gold" Mogami ICs.  Cardas Clear ReFLECTION (not talking Clear Reference) detail comes through slightly yet not as evident as it is with more neutral 4-wire Cygnus. imo, if you must have Cardas, and must save, Cygnus can be the budget sleeper cable. Now, Is it top-top clear level, um, partially, sort of like 80% maybe closer, but not like Clear/Beyond. People resale std "Clear" some times because it’s more neutral, watch out what you ask for. Opinions will vary with other people’s systems. It’s weird, Cygnus requires a very long time of settling, relaxing, and so called burn in though, I tried them twice over 2 years. Retried again later and discovered something new. Realized I did not give them enough time first go-around. Much better after 30-45 days. Glad I retried them.

AP: For a jump in Analysis Plus, a move up to Silver Apex w/your speaker cables and Interconnects will allow missing detail to come in. Can be smooth with detail. Just like Cardas, each cable type up/down the line with Analysis Plus cables will have different results.

Guidance - Ignore the cable-naysayers who’ve never tried any of this or have not compared with a system like yours. Their default is Mogami. Good for them. If all else fails to help, just do demos, this is the best way, and give yourself time. AQ: no further comment, been there done that - nice but simply prefer Cardas design, connectors, and overall quality. A preference thing. Nordost fans can guide you there, for Uber-detail cables if that’s what you want. Best of Luck

@lollipopguild Has anyone tried the more affordable Clear Sky model

Where are you finding "affordable" Clear Sky? And how affordable?

Just checked a few different sites and sure enough those same cheap counterfeit Sky sets are listed for sale out there again, heads up. Lots of threads on it.

@lollipopguild Anyhow, this is now moot as I've ordered the Cygnus

Good deal. Should be good to go. 

I'm enjoying trying Cygnus with different components. Some times I interchange Cygnus with Clear Reflection. Both are nice for different reasons. You definitely can hear a little more with the 4-wire Cygnus, when compared to prior generations

@lollipopguild I noticed in an earlier comment you remarked on their burn-in. Can I ask how they are likely to change?  

They relax and settle in after they've been uncoiled out of the box, rested in place plugged in, and there is a form of discharging affect that occurs as part of the dielectric itself, and won't go into the wire-usage aspects. A few things happen, change does occur.  It's been posted many-many times on Agon. Sometimes we feel like a broken record on this topic...  

As @ghdprentice mentioned, I'm from the same camp of giving them 21-30 days, no joke.  You'll hear it smooth out, more depth, mild texture comes in, and  oddly enough becomes more engaging to listen to.  More on the Cardas site. Enjoy.  

@lollipopguild any change with more time?

I find the Cygnus to be a little more revealing than my older series Cardas or other pairs of Clear Reflection (hybrid of old/new designs). With Cygnus, fyi, my source, preamp, and amps have to be fully warmed up a few hours b4 the edge goes away and Cygnus do their best. The 4-wire design of Cygnus does reveal what’s there with any source or recording. Cygnus is not as colored or bloomy or veiled over as some other regular copper basic wire cables can be, imo.

@lollipopguild "I’ve actually found a set of Golden Cross XLR second-hand.."

I was a GC diehard for a few decades, probably the absolute most lush cable Cardas ever sold. That is the other end of the spectrum. Later came Clear lines. GC was also one of the most complex and labor intensive to make too. All three of my GC pairs went to Pass Labs owners with certain amps and speaker combos that were "too bright" in their words. Sibilance can also start at the source, AC power, DAC, etc.

Once I moved to better DACs, power supply, and a good 6SN7 tube preamp, parted with all three pairs of Golden Cross to the next happy owners. You’ll have no problem reselling the GCs later if you choose to down the road. Should be a good comparison for you. IF GCs are not extra lush, something else going on there.