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

@williewonka @ghdprentice @ghosthouse 
Thanks for the insight gents. I was apprehensive about spending what I did on these so my immediate expectations were perhaps too high. I’ll leave them running for the weekend then take another listen...they are keepers for a good while so It will be interesting to hear how they settle in.

@ghosthouse My Sonus Farber Concertinos are bi-wire and I’m using jumpers, I’ll definitely play with the configuration (didn’t know that was a tweak!).

@steakster Right now all my power cords are upgraded and I’m using a PS Audio Power Center (with plans for a Sunyata at some point).

@raysmtb1 The Prima Luna is here to stay brother, everything else I like is out of range for now.

@millercarbon
Diminishing returns is the point where I can not detect any improvement with a more expensive piece of gear. I’ve listened to systems that have absolutely jaw dropping resolution and other than pointing out an obvious sound signature, I couldn’t tell you the difference between two different sets of speaker cables. No way. How audiophiles are able to pick out micro nuances at such a high level of resolution and realism remains a mystery to me...I’m not saying it’s impossible, I’m just saying that I’m not capable of it at that level.

@raysmtb1I fully believe that there is a point of diminishing returns...with the resolution of a $60K rig, I can’t see how changing any piece of gear in that tier could make an audible difference. But with a system such as mine why wouldn’t an upgrade be audible? Makes sense no?

Sidebar- I went toe 2 toe with cancer and won. Stay strong and keep fighting the good fight brother.

@dletch2

Well, returning them is not an option (private sale) Cardas is a top notch manufacturer and while it’s possible that the QC could be off on one or both sets of the cables I’d say it’s most likely not the issue. It could very well be that the Cardas just sound like crap in my rig. I’m kicking around the idea of doing a A/B test by having a friend swap the cables (or not) with my Shirokazu Yazaki Belden 8402’s and see If I can tell the difference. I think I could easily detect the difference right now so I’d want more time with the Cardas before I do that just to see if it changes or appears to have changed...So if it’s a crap sounding cable then it should continue to sound that way and I should be able to detect it’s offensiveness compared to the Belden a week or month from now. Correct?

@jetter @robert53
The seller was honest and the cables came with the Cardas cert card...I’m gonna give them a call regardless. I’ll see if they can tell me if the cert # jives with the cable type.

I also looked online at the counterfeits...if you look closely they aren’t 1:1

Update: I’ve had the Cardas running for 6 days and within this time I’ve added Cardas speaker jumpers and wired them up using the Nordnost configuration...this weekend I’ll give a listen and then have my friend swap out for the Belden’s (or not). Should be interesting! 

@ghosthouse 

So I did the a/b this past weekend....Saturday morning a friend of mine came over and I stepped outside while he decided to put either the Cardas or Shirokazu Yazaki Belden 8402 in play. Music would be the same selection of Qobuz Hi-Rez favorites for both days.
I listened all day Saturday, morning was about 2 hours, dinner 1 hour and ended the day with a late night session of 4hrs. I marked Saturday as CARDAS...While I initially thought I was detecting the Belden’s clarity on the upper end, I was convinced that the mid-bass was still congested and the low end, heavy. 

Sunday, same procedure. I sat down for a good 3 hours doing bills and answering emails while listening. Then about 1 hour at dinner and 3 hours late night. I marked Sunday as BELDEN...upper end seemed clear, mid range smooth...BELDEN?female vocals seemed right on...definitely Belden.

Monday morning my buddy called and he tells me the BELDEN was in play both days...WTF? Couple notes I took, I could not detect any change in soundstage or imaging. I do think the one thing my ears are sensitive to is changes in the upper end. I second guessed my ears on Saturday when I
was spot on with what I thought was the cleaner less rolled off top end of the Belden. Identifying the low end was tougher than expected...thought about switching off my sub, but didn’t. 

Conclusion: I’ve been into Hi-Fi for decades but when it comes to critical listening I suck. I love geeking out on the gear but when it comes down to it, analyzing and trying to tweak what’s wrong with my system becomes frustrating. I find components easier to work with than cables. I’m still interested to see what happens with the Cardas burn in. I’ll keep them in play for this month then take a crack at another A/B. 

@ghosthouse 

Correct, my friend came over Sat & Sun. Prior upgrades have been clear noticeable improvements. when I upped my amp game from a Meridian 556 to the ARC D400 Mk2 I was jaw dropped. Same for when I upgraded my DAC..It was when I started tweaking preamp tubes, speaker cables, IC’s that the changes were less obvious.

@ghosthouse 

I sourced mine from Hand Art Cables (Greece?) They make em as per Yazaki’s specs. Mine have the gold plated Switchcraft 3502AAU RCA’s really nicely made for the money. I was interested in the Dueland speaker cables also, couldn’t find them in 12ga...eventually went with Cardas.

@ghosthouse 

Fantastic reviews, if smooth, natural and realistic  (as they are described) is appealing to you then be prepared to buy a set after your done reading up, for the money I could not pass on trying them.
Start here:

https://jeffsplace.positive-feedback.com/adventures-in-real-sound-with-mr-shirokazu-yazaki-sneak-pee...

@paulcreed 

Thanks for this! Will do.

@decooney 

excellent thank you for the insight, I’m really intrigued to hear how this all turns out!