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CARDAS Fans: Golden vs. Neutral vs. Presence?

I know the Reference series is considered to have less of the traditional house Cardas sound. However, I've read many differing opinions that leave me in the dark as to what they sound like.

Also, one 6moons reviewer liked the Golden Ref IC more than the Golden Ref speaker cable. He found the speaker cable somewhat lean, though detailed and transparent. The most worrisome trait, though, was that he found there to be a loss of "body sound" to vocals and strings, with an emphasis on what he called the "head sound." And the bass a bit overblowsn. This was compared to Nirvana S-L.

Then there is both the Neutral Ref and the Golden Presence. I know what Cardas says about them on their website, so I don't need their descriptions of how they hear them.

Many people find the Neutral Reference too lean with brightness on less than ideal recordings. And the bass seems to be good, but not as deep and tight as it could be.

Then there is the Golden Presence. Few have written about it, but there are a couple of people who like it best of all the Reference series.

Can I get some informed opinions on both the interconnects and the speakers cables of all three models?
zear

Showing 1 response by durkn

durkn
77 posts
 
I think saxo nailed it.
I’ve had other Cardas but once you step up to the reference line it’s another world.

I was running some basic Audioquest IC for a very long time. Then upgraded to Parsec.
I had Twinlink speaker & changed to Neutral Reference. Significant step in the right direction.

I got one Golden Presence for preamp to amp run. Another significant step.
I got another set of GP & ran from DAC to Pre.

Once using the reference line straight through to speakers, I went from hearing really good sound through two speakers, to the speakers disappearing.

I was playing several different MFSL One-Steps.
My turntable to Pre run was Parsec.
They sounded really good but I was hoping for more. After switching the Parsec to Golden Presence, it was clear that one IC that was holding it back.

Just as with the DAC, after switching to the GP, it went from listening through two speakers to the speakers disappearing.  The MFSL One-Steps are killer.

Now one more set of GP IC & I’m done.

I would like to hear the difference between the NR & GP speaker though...
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