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Kimber or Cardas for Dynaudio 1.3se

I have narrowed my next speaker cable to the Kimber Monocle XL and cardas Golden Cross. I am am currently trying out Monocle X with my system (Blue Circle Audio pre and amp with Dyn 1.3se speakers connected with Cardas Golden Cross and Ref IC) and love the sense of rhythm and pace they have. At the frequence extremes they better my former cables but I feel liek they may be a *bit* thin with a slightly narrower soundstage. Highly musical however lacking in the low end.
The Cardas GC I have not tried out since my dealer only carries Golden Ref. I am looking for some help from audiogoners in improvements, if any, there are if I spend the money for the Golden Cross. I am lookin gfo r afuller bass but retaining the tonality of the Kimber as well as its abilities at frequency extreme. And most importatntly retain the pace and timing of the Kimber. I love my Golden Cross IC as they add a pleasant warmth to my system, I am worried that the GC speaker cables will add TOO much warmth. Any advice n adirection to go either with one of these cables or a different cable all together? Thanks!
vikkysingh
bwhite
807 posts
 
Hi Vikvilkhu. I would second your concerns about the Cardas GC adding too much warmth and body to your system. It is possible to get too much of a good thing. The Cardas Golden Reference is similar in smoothness to the GC but has a better tonal balance. To me, GC seems excessively rolled off at the top end and awesome in the low end. GR is a little less awesome in the low end and has better highs. :)

A nice cable setups I had with solid state gear was Nordost Quattro Fil from CD to preamp, Cardas Golden Cross from preamp to amp and Kimber Select 3035 for my speakers. This was a nice balance, however - I ultimately found the GC a bit too dark...

For speaker cables, you might want to try the Monocle XL which has more conductors than the X. This serves to give you better tighter, more extended bass while maintaining a great deal of the Kimber house sound. The difference between X and XL is worth the extra cash.
basement
245 posts
 
I don't want to confuse you, and I haven't had any of these speaker cables in my system, but since you have described the cardas and the kimber so well, we may have the same taste.
The kimber select ic's has, for me, been the only one to equal the bass performance of the cardas ic's that you mentioned. If you were to go as far, you might consider them as you consider these speaker cables.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
drubin
3,267 posts
 
Bwhite, how would you characterize the Kimber house sound? It is one of a few leading cable brands I have no experience with, but I'm starting to get interested.
btstrg
185 posts
 
Hi I had all Golden Cross Interconnects and speaker cables biwire hooked up to a Pass X250 amp and it was way to warm for my taste. I changed the Golden Cross IC with a Audioquest Anaconda XLR IC which made a big difference in the highs being more open. I then changed the Golden Cross speaker cable to Cardas Netrual Ref and loved how the whole system opened up for me. As much as I like the Golden cross it was just way to warm for my system. I will be trying the the AudioQuest Volcano Speaker cable next just to see how it changes, but I am really happy with the Caradas Neutral Ref you might want to give that a consideration to it can be picked up here at Audiogon for a real good price. By they way my Cd player is a wadia 850 and speakers are Martin Logan Ascent. Hope this helps some.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Kimber cable(almost any in the line) can be easily replaced by high quality pro speaker wire terminated with WBT or Cardas.
Cardas Newtral Referance is the cable that you won't ever hear or feel its presence with minimal ever signal colouration.
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