Cardas Audio cables

spearl8

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I agree with Ron. The idea of 1 cable brand seems like a good idea but some companies might make better speaker cables than they do interconnects for example. Also, if your source, preamp, and amps are from different brands it might not necessarily make sense to have the same cable brand connected to each. Some cables just sound more correct with certain brands.

With the help of the cable company I have tried a lot of Cardas, shunyata, nordost, and transparent (not from the cable company) in my system. The Cardas Clear Beyond and CB XL cables seem to usually sound so right in my system and I feel overall are underrated in the industry. Cardas and Transparent seem to appeal to my ears the most in my system.
 
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microstrip

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(...) I agree with this because I believe that between any two components there is an interconnect that each of us would like more or less than other interconnects. While using the same brand and model of cable throughout the system (the “loom” approach) is easy and, maybe, emotionally satisfying, I don’t think it is the most intellectually honest approach. (...)

Ron,

Although I can not agree with the idea of classifying reviewing methodologies with "intellectually honest" degrees ;) - I think that using complete looms favors the communication of cable sound characteristics to the reader with an higher probability of success. Although I often mix cables for experimentation, I never found a case where a mixed loom resulted in a better result than a complete loom. Surely when we introduce the economics of buying used cables things become much more complicated, as we seldom can find complete looms at give away prices.

When reading a review my main objective is not sharing the reviewer happiness, but getting information and his findings about the gear he is evaluating.
 

microstrip

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I like how Herb characterizes “ability to resolve ambient detail and let music emerge from black, silent backgrounds” as “just hi-fi traits.” (...)

Let us quote and read carefully the whole paragraph:

"The finest audio systems are admired for their ability to resolve ambient detail and let music emerge from black, silent backgrounds. The Cardas interconnects specialized in both capabilities. But those are just hi-fi traits. The Clear Beyond accomplished something I feel is more important: It gave consistently clear structure to the sounds it reproduced, emphasizing the interconnectedness of harmonic forms. This, in turn, made the music feel whole and easy to connect with. "

Heeb refers to these traits as good and needed aspects of top sound reproduction, not as added artifacts as some people in this forum think.
 

Ron Resnick

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Let us quote and read carefully the whole paragraph:

"The finest audio systems are admired for their ability to resolve ambient detail and let music emerge from black, silent backgrounds. The Cardas interconnects specialized in both capabilities. But those are just hi-fi traits. The Clear Beyond accomplished something I feel is more important: It gave consistently clear structure to the sounds it reproduced, emphasizing the interconnectedness of harmonic forms. This, in turn, made the music feel whole and easy to connect with. "

Heeb refers to these traits as good and needed aspects of top sound reproduction, not as added artifacts as some people in this forum think.

i’m not sure what you are quibbling about here.

I simply pointed out that Herb wrote that the “ability to resolve ambient detail and let music emerge from black, silent backgrounds” are “just hi-fi traits.”

Nothing more, nothing less – just a simple excerpt from his review.
 
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microstrip

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i’m not sure what you are quibbling about here.

I simply pointed out that Herb wrote that the “ability to resolve ambient detail and let music emerge from black, silent backgrounds” are “just hi-fi traits.”

Nothing more, nothing less – just a simple excerpt from his review.

An excerpt that taken out of context will be misinterpreted - considering the debates around these traits and the use of the word hi-fi in this forum I think that such situations should be avoided. Just IMHO, YMMV.
 

Ron Resnick

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XL cable shootout- Cardas Clear beyond XL vs Transparent XL. These are my opinions in my specific system so take with a grain of salt. Here are my thoughts and comparisons.

Companies- The Cardas is the premier cable by a genius designer George Cardas. I like that the company is multi generation family run, low ego, and fun. They supply swag like Cardas hand sanitizer and cup holders. Cardas is an OEM supplier for other companies and their connectors are clearly unique to Cardas. Transparent is also a classy company. Great support, a long history, and the upgrade program is a big selling point. Buying the transparent is not the end of the road as you know there will be future cables to upgrade to.

Packaging- The Cardas is minimalistic. You know they put all the money into the cable itself. The Transparent box looks like it can be used to transparent priceless diamonds which is impressive but maybe not necessary.

Cost- Basically the same, around $2,600.

Physical build- The Cardas blue is nice visually. The cable is very thick and substantial. The connectors are awesome. The transparent is a little thinner in the cable but the network box is huge. The connectors have nice Transparent print but I think the same as my Shunyatas. The Transparent black/ gray doesn’t draw attention to itself. I would say neither is especially nimble but the Transparent might need some extra consideration with the network box being so prominent.

Sound- Theoretically, eventually all equipment when perfectly designed should sound the same. These cables really do almost sound the same. It means they are excellent designs. Both are very low noise but not boring or stale like other cables I have used. The slight differences really took concentration to hear. I think the Transparent may have had slightly more detail and sizzle. The Transparent was maybe ever so slightly more dynamic. However, the Cardas had a hard to describe X factor. The Cardas just seemed to touch the heart a little more. It drew me into the music. Both are truly excellent and they would be at home in any level of system.
Thank you for this report!
 

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