ICs with great natural sounding highs?


I currently use Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II (XLR) and it's a great IC but the highs have a certain "silver" coloration especially in the cymbals sound. It's not harsh or bright but when I auditioned Cardas Golden Reference ICs recently I was struck with how cleaner and more natural the cymbals sounded - you can hear the real metal when the cymbal is hit rather than a splash of silvery noise. In all other aspects (bass, sounstage, details etc) however Acoustic Zen came out as a clear winner. But I would love to get a cable with absolutely realistic sounding highs as well as great soundstage, neutral mids, detail and bass that Silver Reference ICs do so well under $1000 for XLR. Should I try Synergistic Research? Shynyata? Others?
antonkk

Showing 1 response by audphile1

If you have a chanced to try Purist Audio 20th Anniversary Aqueous XLRs, I think you would like these a lot. They sound excellent. I had Cardas Golden Reference, AZ Silver Ref II and Matrix Ref II.
PAD Aqueous XLR is a better interconnect. Much more natural sounding and non-fatiguing. I use Purist Aqueous speaker cables as well. I think these cables sound most natural, at least to me in my system.

AZ Silver Ref II is a nice cable but it has artificial flavor to it that I didn't appreciate. Matrix Ref II is definitely a great cable for the money, especially used, but it has its limitations. Compared to more expensive and neutral cables, it is a bit grainy in the mids and also has the AZ house sound, with sort of plasticy sounding highs at times. Not 100% natural. You mostly don't notice it until you try another cable that sounds neutral. I had Silver Ref II/Matrix Ref II XLRs combo and substituted it with Purist Aqueous XLRs and sold the AZs shortly after. Very good cables, but they are not as natural and real sounding as the PAD Aqueous is.

I would also suggest Synergistic Designer Ref active XLRs. They have the qualities you are looking for. But the Purist is my favorite XLR so far. Although, same cables may have different qualities in different systems. So you need to try in your own system to determine what works for you.