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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 2 responses by wireless200

wireless200
415 posts
 
I just went from Zu Gede ICs to Golden Reference. The improvement was quite noticeable across the spectrum. I'm using it with McIntosh and the Mc is nice and smooth to start with. I was originally planning to buy GC but my dealer talked me into GR. They're about the same price.

I'm happy with the GR. GC are well-known for being smooth. If I still had my Krell I would have got the GC for sure but with my Mc it might have been overdoing it. Spending the $$$ on the GR surely made me a believer that you can keep improving the sound with cables but it costs.

I had tried a lot of $200 and under cables and the GR was a clear step up from all of those. I don't think you could go wrong with GC - they sell almost immediately used on Agon. I could understand reviewers saying GR are bright if their system already tends that way. I spent a lot of time and money getting away from the harsh highs.

Probably any cable would sound decent with the Mcintosh IMO. What components are you using? It really depends on the synergy the cable will have with the components. And Usblues is right - you'll get a slew of responses all recommending something different. I would stick with well-characterized brands where you can read a lot of different opinions on a single model, e.g., Golden Cross. You'll get a feeling about the sound if you read enough different opinions about it. I wouldn't trust a single "professional" review.
wireless200
415 posts
 
One thing about the GR is according to the specs the capacitance is relatively very low. Most cable companies provide this spec for their ICs. I assume the lower the capacitance the more neutral it is. Of course like everything else the measurements provided by the vendor are not provided by a 3rd party.
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