Which cardas IC for Ayre components?

The Golden Reference at a heavily discounted price (see below) would be my call. Wanted Golden Reference but couldn't justify the cost so I went with Golden Presence instead. Very pleased with the quality of Cardas cables (ICs & speaker cables).

https://www.partsconnexion.com/cardas-audio-legacy-golden-reference-interconnect-cables.html

cardas to me is a frustrating brand... pricey to very pricey, yet so many of their cables are so opaque and overly smoothed/smeared in sound to my ears (compared to significantly lesser priced competitors)

their higher stuff like their reference/golden reference series are more transparent, yet to me, they fail to outperform much more reasonably priced brands like audioquest wireworld zu and straightwire

of course the quality of their cables is excellent, have an expensive feel to them, but at the end of the day, it is about how they sound

i have no affiliation to any brands i have mentioned... i do own the ayre px5e and kx5e mp

Be aware of the consequences speaker cables can have on an amp...

An acquaintance once used TOTL Cardas speaker cables on his Ayre amp and due to their very high capacitance it damaged the amp - it caused the amp to oscillate.

He then tried those same cables on a "loaner" Gryhon amp and blew that also - OUCH!

High Current solid state designs tend to have this issue, but tube amps are not impacted

Regards - Steve

I have used Cardas Golden Reference with Ayre with success. The Ayre interconnects, made by Cardas, were a bit more neutral than the GR. However I ended up replacing the Cardas with Audioquest cables that were a better match for my system. YMMV.

"....An acquaintance once used TOTL Cardas speaker cables on his Ayre amp and due to their very high capacitance it damaged the amp - it caused the amp to oscillate.

He then tried those same cables on a "loaner" Gryhon amp and blew that also - OUCH!...."

Any amplifier that becomes unstable and goes into oscillation with a high-capacitance load is, IMO, poorly designed. My Bryston Integrated Amp will deliver full output at ANY phase angle at 4ohms or greater. You could hang a large capacitor on the output and it would remain stable.   

@russellrcncom I know its not Ayre components but I just put a new Cardas Clear Sky 1m RCA interconnect between my Chord Qutest DAC and PrimaLuna EVO 300 integrated amp. It sounds wonderful and its only got about 5 hours on it. I am replacing a Kimber Hero WBT RCA in that same connection. The Clear Sky is so much more open and detailed. I was hesitant buying it because everyone always says Cardas is so warm balanced, but the new clear series is supposed to be different. The sound I am hearing from the Cardas is much fuller, more robust and richer but also very detailed. Not sure if that helps you at all but for $430 for a 1M pair I am very happy with it.

The Clear line of cables is more open, transparent, and detailed. Cables in the Golden series are more coloured and warm.