Zenieth, balanced cables have just as much tonal variation as RCA cables. Golden Reference sounds warm and lush, in any configuration, and probably was not a good match for you system. Cardas Neutral Reference is a much more neutral cable and would probably work better for you. I second CMO's recommendation of the Cable Co. You can try out several cables, with your rental fee going towards the purchase. Cardas NR and Audience AU24 are good cables to start with.
Expert advice needed for cable upgrade............
Over the past year I've put together a new rig with a lot of help from members on this forum. I feel as if my i/c's are the weak link to this new found system. I still have the cables that I used prior to upgrading everything else. With so much to choose from I'm sort lost and in need of solid recommendations. I tried a pair of Cardas Golden Reference cables that were single ended. They didn't sound as good as the balanced cables that I am currenting using. Most likely because they were not balanced cables. So before I extend myself in getting a balanced cable. I would like to hear some opinions from the quality members on this forum. I have a budget of around 800/1000 for two cables. Balanced and one meter in length. My rig consists of: Spectron Musician II amp
Spectron Maestro Model 10 pre
PS Audio P-500 Regenerator
Magnepan 3.6
VPI Aries Black Knight
Lyra Helikon Cartridge
Audio Aero Prima
Stealth CWS XLR I/C's pre to amp/pre to cdp
Spectron Maestro Model 10 pre
PS Audio P-500 Regenerator
Magnepan 3.6
VPI Aries Black Knight
Lyra Helikon Cartridge
Audio Aero Prima
Stealth CWS XLR I/C's pre to amp/pre to cdp
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