I've heard all three Cardas cables you're asking about in my own system and in a couple friend's systems. I also owned the Golden Ref. interconnects and speaker cables.
To my ears, the Golden Cross is veiled, rolled off at the extremes and rather thick and tubey sounding in a negative way. If you're running bright sounding solid state gear, it would probably make for a nice band aid.
The Golden Ref. is actually quite good and a big step up in clarity and extension yet still retains a warmer, fuller character. I somewhat preferred the speaker cable over the interconnect but did enjoy both while I owned them.
The Clear is as it's name implies, clearer and cleaner sounding with more apparent air on top and a bit more detailed. It's definitely less "warm" than the GR. My brother owns the GR but spent time with the Clear and decided it wasn't worth the extra money.
As for myself and a good buddy who has owned the GR and still owns the Clear(it's presently collecting dust), we both switched to Siltech Classic Anniversary 770i interconnects and 770L speaker cables. That was a couple years ago and neither of us have any regrets.
The Siltech, both interconnects and speaker, sounds way more transparent and open with great extension top to bottom. There's more power and weight to the music and images just seem more fleshed out.
Just my 2 cents. Hope this was helpful.
To my ears, the Golden Cross is veiled, rolled off at the extremes and rather thick and tubey sounding in a negative way. If you're running bright sounding solid state gear, it would probably make for a nice band aid.
The Golden Ref. is actually quite good and a big step up in clarity and extension yet still retains a warmer, fuller character. I somewhat preferred the speaker cable over the interconnect but did enjoy both while I owned them.
The Clear is as it's name implies, clearer and cleaner sounding with more apparent air on top and a bit more detailed. It's definitely less "warm" than the GR. My brother owns the GR but spent time with the Clear and decided it wasn't worth the extra money.
As for myself and a good buddy who has owned the GR and still owns the Clear(it's presently collecting dust), we both switched to Siltech Classic Anniversary 770i interconnects and 770L speaker cables. That was a couple years ago and neither of us have any regrets.
The Siltech, both interconnects and speaker, sounds way more transparent and open with great extension top to bottom. There's more power and weight to the music and images just seem more fleshed out.
Just my 2 cents. Hope this was helpful.