Review: Cardas Reference Series Golden & Neutral Ref, Golden Pres. Interconnect
Category: Cables
CARDAS: A Tale of 3 Reference Interconnects: Golden Reference, Golden Presence and Neutral Reference.
Cardas is certainly one of the most established cable companies in the industry. They are meticulously constructed. Cardas painstakingly terminates their cables in a time-consuming fashion with special solders, to optimize signal integrity and to seal out all air, for both sonics, and so the copper never oxidizes. Cardas does not feel silver is able to bring the musical results that copper does.
Cardas elicites strong opinions. People love or dislike them. After having them, I am baffled by any criticisms that some make of their cable, particularly the Reference line, for it is outstanding cable.
The Reference line began with the Neutral Reference, the least expensive of the line. George Cardas developed this cable for the needs of the recording industry that required a neutral cable that would sound the same in long or short runs, with the needs of long runs in studios in mind.
Unfortunately, due to the terminations on the Cardas speaker cable, I was unable to connect it to my speakers, so this review will be limited to the interconnects.
But let me start with the Golden Reference, Cardas' flagship cable. After having had the Straight Wire Crescendo in my system on loan, I thought I would never find a cable that would blow me away as it did. That was, until the Cardas.
I regret that I was unable to make a comparison between the two, but the Crescendo was on loan, and it has been some time, so consider my attempts at comparing the two as based on memory.
All the Reference series has some things in common. A big soundstage that is spread out in width and depth, pin point imaging, focus, and a full-bodied sound. It is eminently musical.
The Golden Reference has a powerful bass, similar to the Crescendo, that lets you know it is no wimpy cable. The bass is not overdone, as a few misguided writers have wrote. It is certainly the antithetis to the anemic, poor excuse for a bass that some cables give. Why anyone would want that sort of sound is beyond my comprehension.
It should be said here that I found the Golden Presence to have a very similar sound to the Golden Reference, as well it should since the construction is identical except for less shielding, I believe. Both cables present a big, bold sound, but I found the Golden Presence to sound even more wide open than the Golden Ref. Vocal focus on both Goldens is exceptional. Diana Krall (on Devil May Care, I've Got you Under My Skin, Let's Face the Music and Dance) has never sounded better. Every vocal nuance is there and lines up perfectly. The integration of her vocal chords, chest sound and resonance, consonants, including the s's and z's is sheer perfection. The whole vocal production flows as one, perfectly synched, natural voice. This is hard to find in cables, and is an acid test that separates cable that is able to keep the signal and its timing intact, and the cable that alters the signal.
The treble has a natural, complete characteristic that is neither accentuating sibilants, nor blunting them. So, if your recording is decent, you'll get good sound. If the recording sucks, don't expect the cable to cover it. Buy Golden Cross if you need to romanticize the sound (I haven't heard it, but that's the word on the street). But then Golden Cross has been criticized by the Cardas haters as being a highly colored cable lacking extension and ultimate detail.
The integration of bass to midrange to treble in the Cardas Reference line is among the best I have heard. The Audioquest Diamond cable I use for comparison to hear detail loss in other cable. The Diamond shows a slight improvement in revealing very small and distant detail, but at the expense of a thinner, more clinical sound and a smaller stage.
The Tara Master Gen II is an older cable that I keep because of its incredible midrange purity. It may have the slightest edge in some aspects of vocals, but overall I would take either the Golden Ref or Golden Presence as superior in overall midrange sound. The differences I'm speaking of are quite small, and only hearable through a system and recordings of highest quality. The Tara bass sounds somewhat lighter and cannot compete with the Cardas.
As I remember the Straight Wire Crescendo, it had some amazing qualities, but I do not think it was as well-integrated, top to bottom, as the Cardas. The bass was perhaps a bit more powerful than reality, and the midrange did not snap quite into the fine focus of the Cardas, nor did the midrange sound as natural. Still, I remember the Crescendo knocking me over, and I am speaking from memory, so take that into consideration. Perhaps I will get to borrow the Crescendo again. It is much more expensive than the Cardas, and much thicker and hard to work with.
The Kimber Select never pressed my buttons, and I never found it to have the coherency or musicality its many lovers do.
The Acoustic Zen Matrix II is long gone, so anything I would say would be inaccurate, as it was never in the present system I own. I did, however, find the Matrix to have a certain character of its own and never was quite satisfied with it.
The Golden Reference has a slightly more powerful bass than the Golden Presence, which is next down the line, but the Presence has an edge in airiness and an even bigger soundstage than the Reference. This was a shock to me. No one reviews the Golden Presence. This is the real sleeper in this lineup, and a true gem.
The Neutral Reference is a great cable, but when comparing it to the other References, it has a weaker bass, a somewhat less expansive soundstage, and vocals do not have quite the same focus, detail and life, though many of the qualities of its more expensive siblings are there.
In my system, and in my analysis, I feel the Golden Presence is the best choice, though a mix of the Presence and the Gold Ref gives an interesting result as well, just slightly different. Which is better is probably system dependent as well.
I did not find the Cardas needed the hundreds of hours that may claim it does. If after time passes I find the cable has improved, I will report on it. Nor did I find any sonic degradation if you switched cable in and out, or moved the cable, as Cardas and others claim. I did countless comparisons, and found the cables to sound virtually the same before and after insertions.
The Cardas RCA jacks are the same on the Golden Ref and Golden Presence, and are of beautiful finish and fit very well on equipment. The Neutral Reference has a slightly less expensive RCA that looks very similar, but it does not have the ultimate feel or grip on the jacks the more expensive RCA's do.
Listening was done on Dali Helicon 800 Mk II's, Pass X250.5, CJ Premier 140, CJ CT5, Aesthetix Calypso, Cullen Stage 4 PS DLC DAC, Marantz SA-11S2 as transport, and Audioquest MontBlanc biwire speaker cables.
Primarily, Large Jazz ensembles, and smaller jazz groups were used, along with vocalists from the present (Diana Krall), older Harry Connick, and the vocal greats like Sinatra, Ella, etc.
I encourage you to listen to the Cardas cable if you get the opportunity and see what you think. It is now the interconnect of choice for me, and my system is sounding the best that is has.
Musicality, coherence, weight, dynamics, midrange purity, soundstaging, detailing....that describes the Golden Reference and Golden Presence. The top to bottom coherence is the best I have yet heard in any cable. Cardas may not change their line as often as other cable companies, but who really cares when they apparently have it right? Outstanding cables.
Associated gear
Conrad Johnson Premier 140, Pass Labs X250.5, Conrad Johnson CT5, Aesthetix Calypso, Cullen Stage 4 DLC DAC, Marantz SA-11S2, Audioquest Mont Blanc speaker cable.
Similar products
Straight Wire Crescendo
Acoustic Zen Matrix II
Tara Labs Master Gen II
Kimber Select 1011
Audioquest Diamond X3
