Cardas Golden VS AQ Diamondx3. anybody?

The Audioquest Diamond is not in the same league with Cardas Golden Reference. Every time I got a new Golden Reference, I moved the Diamond to a less important position, and there was a significant improvement in smoothness and detail.

Don't remember which Diamond it is, and I'd have to pull out at least one component to get at it, if it even says on the cable. Box is also inaccessible. I've been happier with the Cardas Golden Reference, Neutral Reference, Straightwire Crescendo and NBS Monitor 0 I've used at one time or other since. I thought the Diamond sounded something like the Monster Sigma Retro I tried about the same period--clear, not offensive in any way, but lacking in any special strengths, and kind of recessed in the midrange. There are huge differences between Golden Reference and Crescendo, for example, but I liked them both, so it's not just a question of tonal preference. Diamond just did nothing much for my system, and I thought it was way overpriced.

Oh, yeah, what did I like about the GR? Sorry, that is what you wanted to know, after all. Yes, GR is a somewhat warm cable, and yes, my system is all solid state--Pass X-ONO and X-1, Classe CAM-350's, dCS/Levinson digital. But the warmth is not at the expense of the highs, which are clear and extended, although not emphasized. The GR and Monitor 0 seem to flesh out the lower midrange so cellos sound the way they do in a concert hall, something lacking in a lot of cables, at least in my system. And that included the Diamond.