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Initial disappointment with 1st set of “expensive’ IC’s...

I’ve been slow working my way to equipping my rig with all Cardas as I’ve been fan of their quality/sound signature an for a long time. I just received 2 sets of Clear Light IC’s which I’m using DAC to Pre and Pre to Amp. up until now all other Cardas cables that I have were obtained used and sounded great from day 1. The Clear Light however are brand new..when I sat down to give them a listen I was surprised not to hear any improvement...I was actually disappointed to hear what I can describe as a fatter bass and subdued upper end. My prior IC’s were Shirokazu Yazaki Belden 8402. I admittedly do not have golden ears but the difference was obvious. I’m interested to hear what other Cardas owners have to say about how their cables sounded when 1st installed. 
jl1ny
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,321 posts
 
Thanks for the info, @jl1ny

I'd come across that Jeff's Place article before but at the time was focused on the Dueland wire.  Completely forgot about Belden and Mr. Yazaki. You might find the link here of interest.  Given ground connection at both ends, looks to be similar to the Yazaki Belden IC.  Price not quite as good as from Best-Tronics (but still very affordable).  

https://www.amazon.com/Tuneful-Cables-Belden-Audiophile-Interconnects/dp/B06VVBRNWX/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_...
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,739 posts
 
It’s much better to buy cheap wires and have them over perform than Uber expensive ones that disappoint. 
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,397 posts
 
It’s much better to buy cheap wires and have them over perform than Uber expensive ones that disappoint.
my tought also....
jl1ny's avatar
jl1ny OP
419 posts
 
@ghosthouse 

I sourced mine from Hand Art Cables (Greece?) They make em as per Yazaki’s specs. Mine have the gold plated Switchcraft 3502AAU RCA’s really nicely made for the money. I was interested in the Dueland speaker cables also, couldn’t find them in 12ga...eventually went with Cardas.
paulcreed
567 posts
 
jl1ny, looking at the dates of your post you have less than 2 weeks on your cables. Personally I wouldn't even listen to them for another 2 to 3 weeks just run them 24/7 on another system or rig a system in the garage and forget about them for a while. Anyone that has run in rhodium knows it can take way more than a month so your Cardas should be an easy break in. The Furutech NFC rhodium outlet break in was the longest I've even had to witness, so be patient then decide what to do with your cable in a few weeks. 

In my system if I move the wire around or disconnect things it can take a couple days before everything sounds correct again. You may be better off just leaving everything alone and see what happens.
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