Comparison of Cardas Clear & Beyond Speaker Cable to Shunyata Sigma or Alpha Cable

@guidocorona What's your recommendation for a power cord that is fuller sounding than the Clear Beyond but otherwise similar?
I am not using the XL but have Clear Beyond throughout. I kind of miss the fullness that the Golden Reference gives but I found the highs on that slightly hard compared to the Clear Beyond which was excellent all round except I felt it could do with a midrange bump.

I am tempted to try the XL on my power amp if I can afford it but I understand that it is slightly leaner sounding than the Clear Beyond.

Hello @Mikey8811, I have not tried Clear Beyond cables... But per several posts at:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/cardas-clear-beyond-power-cords?sort_order=desc

it appears that well broken in Clear Beyond XL (probably 400 to 500 hours of operation) power cords add resolution and spatiality, without resulting in an etched sound... XL having larger gage and larger filters than the original Clear Beyond, bass in XL might be more authoritative, which might be perceived as "richness"... Worth trying out.

You might also try to "salt" your system by replacing Clear Beyond in just one position with a Clear Reflection analog IC or Clear Reflection speaker wires.... The Clear Reflection series addresses the tone concept of lovers of the original Clear Golden Reference wires, who yearn for Golden Ref's warmth, but, with hindsight, find the old series to have a little bit of an intermodulative (hard) treble, and a slight limitation in extension.

An other option might be to adopt a length of speaker wires or ICs from an older series of Shunyata, such as ZTron or even Helix... Particularly with Helix, you might experience a warmer presentation, but probably to the detriment of some ultimate detail.
 
On the other hand, I might be totally off the mark in suggesting a cabling change.... the cause of your leanness might be elsewhere.... Lest we hijack this thread on a tangent, why don't you PM me, so we continue this sidebar discussion offline.

Saluti, Guido

@mikey8811 I have used both Cardas Clear Beyond and Clear Beyond XL PCs on Rowland M925s. In my system (which is a full Cardas Clear Beyond or Beyond XL loom) I wouldn't characterize the XL PCs as "thinner" than the Clear Beyond PCs. Instead, I would say that the XLs take some bloom out of the bass--which to me is a positive development--and provide some additional clarity and detail. However, I will note that there is not a large difference between the Cardas Clear Beyond and Beyond XL PCs. The jump in the Cardas line is substantial between Clear and Clear Beyond (IMO). Between Clear Beyond and Beyond XL, not so much. Having said that I just replaced my Clear Beyond PC with a Beyond XL on my Rowland PSU, so I hear a difference I like, but it is a matter of smaller degrees than at other points on the Cardas line. Could you get the midrange bump you are after with the XLs? Always possible because these things seem to be system dependent.

@guidocorona I sent you a PM.
@astewart8944 , yes, I did hear that the jump up from CB to CB XL was not large and so am hesitant to pay the premium which is pretty hefty.

For my tastes I think I inevitably prefer bass bloom to clarity, so the CB XL may not work for me either.
Sounds like Cardas needs to make a Clear Reflection Power haha.

Having said that I just replaced my Clear Beyond PC with a Beyond XL on my Rowland PSU, so I hear a difference I like

@astewart8944 This brings up an interesting topic.....have you determined that power cords influence the new PSU?