If I had to describe it, I would say that the Cardas Neutral Ref is a very good cable, which allowed the emotion of the music to be communicated, but nowhere close to the degree that the Acoustic Zen does.
Hi! Mentioning 'neutrality' begs comparison with Cardas Neutral Reference. Have you compared that cable with your recomended wires? I'm thrashing about in the same market. Cheers \ james in Toronto
I would say the Cardas is not as neutral as many of the other cables I have heard. I also find the Cardas cables to be a bit bloated in the lower mids. As far as warmth, I would probably call them more laid back than warm.
Between my ARC Classic 150s and Merlin Milleniums- and for that matter- between every piece of gear I own now, I'm running Gold Ref. It replaced a complete XLO signature lash-up about six months ago. Everything is well burned in now and I goota say this stuff is great. Midrange through midbass has a nice weight. I wouldn't say the cable was warm, but that it was natural. The XLO was a bit thin sounding in this area. Detail is the equal of the XLO (which was a real over-achiever in that area) THe only area where the XLO Sig out did the Gold Ref was in high frequency "air". However I suspect that the XLO may have been a bit tipped up on top and the additional sense of "air" an unnatural artifact of this. On balance the Gold Ref was a great choice in my current system creating a much smoother octave-to-octave balance and a more fleshed out portrayal of all types of music. It works for me...
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