@decooney I have Clear Reflection going from Dac to Pre and Pre to Amp. they replaced Golden Refs that I had on loan. The GR were luxurious but just a bit too rich for my rig. Clear Reflection has a touch more clarity/definition, yet still velvety just right. upon deciding to stick with the Clear Reflection, I sent them off to Cardas and had them retermed with XLR’s. This is my 1st experience with using a balanced XLR connection, what a pleasant surprise. Added value- DEAD silence and there appears to be a slight boost in gain (?) I do a lot of late nite low volume listening and the slight boost brings my listening to a near perfect setting. lovely!
Cardas Clear Reflection advice needed
HI group,
I recently bought a Bel Canto Pre3VB preamp with its VBS power supply, which I'm running to my Bel Canto REF500S amp.
Since the Pre3VB and REF500s are fully balanced, I'm in the market for an XLR cable.
My source interconnects are Cardas Clear; I could wait and save up some more for a Clear XLR, or I could go with a Clear Reflection right now.
If I did that, would I be compromising my system?
Interested in your thoughts.
My system: BC REF500s, BC Pre3VB & VBS1 battery supply, Arcam Alpha 9 CDP, Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand SE speakers, Kimber Monocle XL speaker cable......
Thanks for your help...
I recently bought a Bel Canto Pre3VB preamp with its VBS power supply, which I'm running to my Bel Canto REF500S amp.
Since the Pre3VB and REF500s are fully balanced, I'm in the market for an XLR cable.
My source interconnects are Cardas Clear; I could wait and save up some more for a Clear XLR, or I could go with a Clear Reflection right now.
If I did that, would I be compromising my system?
Interested in your thoughts.
My system: BC REF500s, BC Pre3VB & VBS1 battery supply, Arcam Alpha 9 CDP, Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand SE speakers, Kimber Monocle XL speaker cable......
Thanks for your help...
Showing 3 responses by jl1ny
@sdl4 My situation is very similar to yours regarding speaker cables. I would love to go with CR but I need 15ft of cable which would cost close to $5K new? I just couldn’t justify that expense for the level I’m playing at. So I kept my eyes on the sales forums and scored 5m of Cardas Neutral Reference speaker cables. While NR not on par with CR, it sounds substantially better than my existing speaker cables. I’m very satisfied with it. |
I’ve taken a new approach with cables, I install them and let them run at low level for 24hrs before I sit down for my 1st listening (at night when my rig sounds best) and I’ll write down my initial impressions. After that I let them run for another 5 to 7 days before I’ll listen again and compare notes from the 1st listening. Personally, I can’t do a daily assessment with new gear, as I suck at detecting micro nuances. I’ve that found giving the cables a good 160 hours burn in provides a clearer sense of what they bring into the system. |