CARDAS Fans: Golden vs. Neutral vs. Presence?

I've used and auditioned a lot of cables from a lot of companies over the years (top of line to midgrade) and I continue to come back to the Golden Refs. I find the Golden Refs are pretty much neutral sounding cables, perhaps just a touch warm. They pretty much communicate what the rest of your system is doing (wonder why people claim they're anything from overly warm to lean).
They are not a cable that jumps out at you in any department, there are cables that are more detailed, quieter, airy, spacious, etc. The GR's just kind of cover all the bases nicely, you can build a nice musical system around them. Want some more air and spaciousness add a bit of silver somewhere, need more bass, get some PAD Dominus, I could go on and on.
The Golden Cross have always been too warm and lacking in detail when I've tried them, YMMV.

As I said before any review has to be taken in context of the system its in, also, as MrTennis mentioned, the perception of the listener. You cannot make judgments about how a cable will work for you until you experience it within your system.
I reiterate, Cardas Golden Refs are essentially neutral cables, wildly differing opinions only serve to reinforce that assertation. You don't hear such differing opinions about Nordost or PAD, Nordost, warm, PAD, thin, I don't think so!

I think Jeff has it right with the Golden Refs vs. the Neutral Ref., the Golden Refs are definitely the most accurate of the Cardas cables. I would suspect the Golden Presence would be closest to Golden Ref, seeing as it is a decontented Golden Ref. I would expect it would just have less of everything. Again, the Golden Ref will have the body vs. mouth thing down. You should hear more body than mouth in a synergistic system, the Cardas is more about spaciousness and decay than attack. I am experiencing truly dimensional imaging and and a nice full tonal balance with mostly Golden Ref cabling.
I should also add, I do think the IC's are a bit more neutral than the speaker cable, in my experience the speaker cable does add a touch more bass than neutral. With tubes and all Golden Refs I could see how one could have an overly dark presentation, again it is all about synergy.
In the end, you simply cannot count on other's opinions for what it will do in your system. Buy some used here on the 'gon and sell them at no loss if you don't like them. Or borrow some from the lending library at the Cable Company.

Muralman, I also use the Speltz anti-ic's in my system, very nice cable. Still, the fact it doesn't use a dialectic doesn't make it inherently better. The Speltz cable has it's own noise to add to my system, in the form of increased rfi and emi.
I too can hear what each cable does in a very revealing system, the Cardas Golden Ref. will be the correct choice for many systems.

Zear, I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think it is the shielding on the Presence that is different than GR, rather it is less conductors.
I've also owned and demoed Synergistic Resolution Ref. and Absolute Refs. the active shielding does make for a quieter cable, but not necessarily a better cable. The quietness/blackness of a cable is only one aspect of what makes a cable sound the way it does. There are so many variables in a cable, that to put too much emphasis on one aspect of it's design is fruitless.

Yes, surprisingly, the Speltz cable is at least in the same league. Thus far I've only used it from my DAC to preamp (replacing Cardas Golden Ref), and it only has about 125 hours of burn in. I've tried many of the relatively inexpensive cables in the past and have never been much impressed, ie. I was somewhat cynical about the cudos given this cable. At this point I'm really impressed with this cable, at this price it is a no-brainer, it compares with much higher cost cables.

I hear really wonderful transparency/detail, tonal balance perhaps a bit on the warm side, actually, very similar to the GR in my system. I have only a couple of small nits thusfar, it seems a tad more aggresive on the attacks than the GR, the GR seems to accentuate the decays rather than the attacks. Image density and demensionality are a tad thinner as well, GR's really excell in the spaciousness category. Finally, there is a bit of confusion in more complex passages. The slight aggresiveness and confusion could be due to either RFI/EMI or lack of burn in. The info sheet that comes with the cable, and talk in the forums indicates these cables may need 500 hours to fully burn in.

I am somewhat skeptical that any wire needs 500 hours to burn in, 100 hours has been the usual mark in my experience. Anyway, I'm burning in the cable further at the moment, I will listen again at 200 hours, then 500 hours. Even as is, this cable is worth a listen, it may be all one needs! Keep in mind I'm only using the single IC, Golden Ref and PAD Dominus everywhere else, a full system of Speltz IC's and speaker cable, who knows?

Re-inserted the Golden Ref. for the Speltz cable (between DAC and preamp), over a long listening session I realized how much more involving the Golden Ref. was. Now I'm not interested in re-inserting Speltz.

This tells me there is simply more resolution/detail with the GR in my system vs. the Speltz. The GR is more life-like, more image dimensionality and density, the Speltz is flatter more like hifi in my system. I suspect this very slight veiling is RFI, EMI issues.

Still, I would have to say the Speltz is a really nice cable for the money, if your cable budget is limited these are a nice choice.