Cardas Clear Beyond Power cords

@garebear 
Hey Gary, I talked to a dealer in Colorado who raved about them and he had one 2M pair--which I passed on. However, I know Cardas is now taking orders for the CCBXL power cords and is currently estimating fulfilling those orders in 2-3 weeks. Hopefully, that is true--they have missed their last two projected availability dates. I gambled and ordered a pair of 1M 20A PCs for my Rowland M925s. When I get them and burn them in, I will post my opinion on how they sound.

Hello Al.....nice to hear from you and I hope all is well these days. I must say that I am surprised that there has been little to almost no information on what will be Cardas's most expensive power cord to date. I have spoken with a few dealer's who were surprised when I had asked them about the CCBXL PC as they knew nothing about it, to dealers who knew it was coming but were not sure when. I just thought there would have been more information on the PC as well an indication of what is designed to sound like. I guess that that this must be the way Cardas handles new product introductions. I also heard that they are being shipped around the third week of February and I will believe that when I see it ......I am going to sit tight until they are out in the field and see what people say about it.      

I own two Beyond Power (one on the integrated amp, one on the SACDp) and a Clear Power (on the SACDp AC filter), with Beyond XLR Interconnects (!!!) and the old double run of Golden Reference Speaker in "shotgun" configuration.

I tried a single pair Clear Rev.1 Speaker first down than up and I realized I have to buy two pairs, Clear Rev.1 is clearly better in every parameter but now this new Beyond XL Power may change my plans...

What should I buy first now (since I have to choose) ?

The "basic" Beyond Power sounds extended, neutral, controlled, with great ability to resolve the single instruments and their melodic lines.
I think bass fullness and "slam" was its main lack, compared to power cords like, for example, Shunyata Anaconda Helix Alpha I could try in my system.
The "basic" Beyond provides more harmonics, reverbs and ambient informations, with better image widht and height but it is a bit less dynamic than my previous Lessloss DFPC Signature; furthermore, it may sound a bit bright on some gear ... not mine, but many told me, anyway it doesn’t have quite the smoothness and warmht of some Purist Audio Design or Kubala Sosna power cords I had before.

I expect the Beyond XL to be weightier in the bass, more dynamic than the "gentle" character of the "basic" Beyond, with a slightly warmer presentation.

Clear M is now a "Legacy" product on the Cardas website, so I expect the old Beyond to become the recommended cable for sources, being the XL the one for integrated and main power amps.

I wait for impressions of early users!

@biggy79 How does a chain of Clear Beyond Power sound like on everything from source to amp? Is it your conclusion that is sounds a bit bright?

I am currently using Clear Beyond Power on everything ie. power distributor, preamp, DAC, power amp, except for the sources. I am using Golden Reference on the sources and was wondering how Clear Beyond on them will sound.

A forum-mate told me he experienced that Clear Beyond may sound a bit bright/hard on some "digital" digital sources, where he did prefer the softer Clear M.
I think it's a matter of quality of audio gear, you cannot use the Beyond Power on poor audio equipment, it will reveal their faults.

On my Accuphase DP700 the Beyond Power replaced a MIT Oracle AC1, sounding more natural, gentle, neutral, not "boombastic" like the MIT was, with LESS hardness/brightness than the MIT, which was both "warm" with big fat bass and "silvery" on the top.

Clear Beyond sounds pretty good on my system, where I use it both on Luxman 509u and DP700 (linked by the superb Clear Beyond Interconnects) but in my (and another forum-mate) experience it can't be used in series; on power strips and conditioners it is better to use a Clear Power as "first cable", if a Beyond is used after to the audio gear.
Beyond Power extends the frequency response on both extremes remaining absolutely neutral, but two Beyonds in series may sound too "pumped" on the extremes with obscured voice, at least in my system.
No problem if two Beyond are used in parallel, after a power strip/conditioner powered by a Clear Power (a delicious version of the good old Golden Reference Power, without its faults: more neutral and focused, more natural, less bright on the top and with less pronounced midbass).
Try to swap the Golden Reference for your sorce with the Beyond for power distributor and let me know ;) .

The only thing I miss with the "standard" Beyond Power is a bit more of "slam", I'd like more "punchy", impactful and dynamic sound, with more "PRAT" effect; maybe this is what Beyond XL will bring to the table.

The only power cable I know sounding better than the standard Beyond is the Shunyata Anaconda Helix Alpha, but It costs twice (I think it is in the same class of the XL) and I have some doubts about its neutrality.