Cardas Clear Reflection advice needed

@audioman58 have you found the Eclipse (OCC) provides the same type of timbre, tone, and body heard with most of the upper end Cardas interconnects?

@decooney I have Clear Reflection going from Dac to Pre and Pre to Amp. they replaced Golden Refs that I had on loan. The GR were luxurious but just a bit too rich for my rig. Clear Reflection has a touch more clarity/definition, yet still velvety just right. upon deciding to stick with the Clear Reflection, I sent them off to Cardas and had them retermed with XLR’s. This is my 1st experience with using a balanced XLR connection, what a pleasant surprise. Added value- DEAD silence and there appears to be a slight boost in gain (?) I do a lot of late nite low volume listening and the slight boost brings my listening to a near perfect setting. lovely!

@jl1ny I do a lot of late nite low volume listening and the slight boost brings my listening to a near perfect setting.

Great point. I do a lot of late low level listing too. People rarely talk about this requirement, and for those who seek this, slightly rolled/veiled over interconnects can be a real challenge, when "turning it up" to hear things better - is not an option.

Agree, some of my older "pre-clear" era Golden series cables were not the best fit for this need. I’ve since moved to other brand OCC cables, yet still looking back at Cardas some. Was thinking of retrying Clear reflections or Clear to try again for another setup. Every once in a while crave some of the former tones and timbre.  

Feedback appreciated by those who’ve tried similar or moved on to others by now.

@decooney  Like @jl1ny, I continue to use Clear Reflection XLRs between DAC and preamp and between preamp and mono block amps. I'm hoping to move the amps closer to the speakers so I can use shorter speaker cables, but that requires much longer interconnects (5 meters instead of 1 meter) between the preamp and amps, and the Clear Reflections are pretty expensive at those lengths.

In my search for long interconnects that don't cost a lot, I've tried several XLRs that sounded very impressive at first, especially in terms of detail and transparency, but ultimately proved to be a bit fatiguing and lacking in the tonal richness I've gotten used to with the Cardas CR. You've mentioned the timbre, tone, and body you've heard with Cardas, and I haven't heard the same fullness, liquidity, and smoothness with the other ICs I've tried.

I first did an extended trial of the Vovox Sonorus, which is a Swiss XLR with a solid reputation in the pro audio community. The Vovox provided impressive liveliness and transparency, which was impressive at first, but it lacked the fullness and smoothness of the Cardas CR in my system. My next extended trial was with the Zavfino Fusion XLR, which provided realistic detail and transparency. The Fusion was good enough that I left it in the system for several weeks, until I realized that I wasn't listening to music quite as frequently as I had been and decided to replace the Fusion with the CR. The immediate effect of adding the Cardas back into the system (between preamp and amps) was an increase in the fullness and body I like to hear in wooden instruments and voice. The Fusion now sounded thin in comparison.

I recently went back and re-read Steve Huff's review of the Clear Reflection cables on his photo gear website. I realized that Huff appreciates the same attributes in the CR that I do, especially the fullness, tonal balance, midrange liquidity, richness, and smoothness I hear with the CR. The CR also images great and isn't rolled off in the highs, but it also doesn't over-emphasize high frequency detail at the expense of tonal balance.

I guess I just need to resign myself to admitting that I love Clear Reflection, since I can't seem to find a cheaper cable that is a better match for my preferences and my system.

@jl1ny @sdl4 Thanks for your replies. I’m looking to experiment with something about half way between Cardas Clear Reflections and some of the more transparent OCC interconnects I own and use today, AP/Crystal OCC. I formerly owned Clear Reflections for a short time and truly wanted to like them. Still might. May try again since I added brighter and more detailed coupling caps in my DAC and mono tube amps. Can’t justify paying for Clear Beyond. Been hoping Cardas would bring out a slightly revised version of Clear with a tad more weight to it. 

@audioman58 seems like you are finding a new "balance" between OCC and tone/timbre retention within the WW Eclipse 8, if I’m following you correctly. John at TheCableCo is trying to steer me back towards Cardas knowing me, yet they carry WW Eclipse too. Your experience of cycling through these is helpful info too, thanks. Hmmm. Did you ever try Clear?