Initial disappointment with 1st set of “expensive’ IC’s...

@jl1ny
What's the latest?  

@jl1ny

I agree with @ghdprentice 
Be patient.  I run Cardas myself.  Used, it seems to take a few days undisturbed and a good (20-50 hours?) of playing time before they settle in.  New, more like 100-200 hours of playing.  Even when moving wire already in the system, it seems like a day or two before things "settle in". To my ears/with my equipment, and with new wire in particular, break in always seems to involve the sound opening up (more air, space, depth) which I suppose could well be due to a little more high end extension developing.  

Having said that, once sufficient time has passed, I (obviously) can't guarantee you'll like sound with the Clear Lights.  Regarding the bass, however, if it persists in being "fat", consider moving your speakers a bit if you  are able.  In addition, if you are single-wiring to bi-wireable speakers and use jumpers, try Nordost's method of diagonal connection (i.e., Black (-) to the upper post, Red (+) to lower with jumpers connected as you normally would).  To me this method of connection (vs Audioquest diagonal which is the opposite...Red up/Black down) provides a little more high frequency energy.  

Good luck.

@jl1ny

Interesting report. I take it your friend came to make cable changes (or not) both Saturday and Sunday?

In any case, don’t beat up on yourself. What you hear and how you "feel" about what you hear has a huge subjective component to it but that is definitely not said to dismiss possible objective effects of changing cables, etc. I’m not familiar with your specific Belden 8402 or Cardas Clear Light ICs. Maybe with your gear they’re very close sonically.

Same system, no changes, dedicated power circuits, power conditioner blah blah blah - yet some days my system seems to sound better than others. I attribute a lot of that to how well rested I am (mental energy and focus), weather conditions!, and just how psyched I am about a listening session or the music playing.

I’ve never been that into A/B-ing myself. Make a change and live with it for a while but don’t go back and forth too quickly. If the change is going to have an audible effect, I can usually tell right away and I absolutely don’t claim to have "golden ears" sensitive to subtle nuance in the sonics. If I have to stand on my head and squint to hear it, probably not signifiant for me (regardless what others say). If I do hear an immediate change but not quite sure if it’s a good change or not, all the more reason for patience and to live with it for a while. The Shunyata Alpha power cord I trialed was that way. It took a loooong time for that thing to settle in and open up, whatever you want to call it. Once everything has reached "equilibrium" (including my ears) try going back to the old set up. Not something I enjoy doing! but a "collapse" of sonics, loss of intelligibility of lyrics, less ease in the sound...those are some of the things that point to the change having been a good one.

Hope that doesn’t across as patronizing or stating the obvious. Good luck in your evaluation.

@jl1ny 

Trust your ears!  I'll be interested in what you hear (or don't hear) a month from now if you pull the Clear Light IC and go back the Belden wire.  Speaking of which, you've got me curious now.  I can search the net, of course; wondering who/what this Shirokazu Yazaki is.

Thanks for the info, @jl1ny

I'd come across that Jeff's Place article before but at the time was focused on the Dueland wire.  Completely forgot about Belden and Mr. Yazaki. You might find the link here of interest.  Given ground connection at both ends, looks to be similar to the Yazaki Belden IC.  Price not quite as good as from Best-Tronics (but still very affordable).  

https://www.amazon.com/Tuneful-Cables-Belden-Audiophile-Interconnects/dp/B06VVBRNWX/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_...