Which interconnect cable to upgrade first

I have extensive experience with Cardas Clear Reflection XLRs, and I support the excellent suggestions from @thyname and @ghdprentice. There is also a long and enthusiastic review of a full loom of Cardas CR on the Steve Huff Photo website. 

I currently use CR XLRs between my DAC and preamp and between my preamp and power amps. The CR has a beautiful midrange and is extended on both the top and bottom without sounding harsh or fatiguing. It provides a hint of warmth, but it also provides the clarity and detail that is heard in the newer Cardas cables in the Clear line. It's a wonderful cable! 

I upgraded to the CR after extended use of the Cardas Parsec XLR. The Parsec is a very good cable, but compared to the CR it sounds a little softer and less transparent. Until I got a second CR XLR, I used the Parsec between my preamp and amp. I experimented with using the Parsec between the DAC and preamp, but I preferred the sound of the CR between DAC and preamp because it presented more characteristics of the better cable.

I would also second thyname's comments about the Zavfino Fusion XLR, which is in a similar price range to the Cardas Parsec. I wouldn't call the Fusion a warm cable, but it's not especially cool-sounding either. I guess it could be described as fairly neutral, but it has a naturalness and purity that is very seductive. I'm just starting to listen to a "not-yet-broken-in" Fusion because I want to move my amps closer to my speakers and need a 5m XLR to do this; unfortunately, a 5m Clear Reflection is very expensive, so a 5m Fusion may turn out to be an effective cost-benefit compromise for me.

Best of luck in your search!

Thanks @sdl4 for your first hand experience on Clear Reflection.  Very helpful indeed!

From the source.

Hi, I just want to circle back and post an update to this thread.   I ended up trying 3 XLR cables:  Kimber Carbon, Kimber Select KS-1116, and Cardas Clear Reflection.  I didn't try the Zavfino Fusion because they were out of the XLR version at the time.

I ruled out Kimber Carbon after a few weeks.  It's not a bad cable, it has a bigger soundstage than my Hero, but it is also a tad brighter in the high end, which is not what I want.

As with the Kimber Select, I find it sounds very close to the Hero on the Source to Preamp link.  The Select is a little bit more forward, and a tad warmer.   Soundstage is about the same.  I can't say I hear a big improvement over the Hero.  It confirmed for me that the Hero is a very good cable at its price.    I then tried the Select between my Preamp and Power Amp.  Wow, I was immediately impressed with the extra bass and warmth coming from the Select.  That really sealed the deal for me.

As with the Cardas Clear Reflection, I like it quite a bit on the Source to Preamp link.  It sounds very spacious and projects a bigger soundstage.  Bass is not as deep and prominent as the Kimber Select.  Nice details on the high end but with a tiny bit of brightness occasionally.   Not as warm sounding as the Kimber Select, which I found it surprising because most comments I read about Cardas cables tend to state they are warm sounding.   I then tried the CR between my Preamp and Power Amp, and I really did not like how it sounded.   I sounded bright and thin.

At the end, I decided to buy another pair of Kimber Select and replaced both Source to Preamp, and Preamp to Power Amp links.   I still have the Cardas CR, and still deciding if I should keep it.  I really wanted to like the CR, it's not a bad cable at all, and  I got it at a great price for an open box demo from Music Direct.   Just that it my case, the Kimber Select satisfies the 2 goals that I set out to achieve:  warmth and bass, although not much improvement on the soundstage.  Another question that this exercise answers for me is that, the upgrade between the Preamp and Power Amp makes a bigger impact in my system.

Anyway,  hope this helps and thanks to everyone's help on this thread.

@xcool : You taking your time to come back here with your findings and experience is much appreciated. Not everyone does that. Your detailed post should help many members of the community, and this is exactly what these threads are about.

I am not surprised with your findings. I have owned both Cardas Clear Reflections and Kimber Select (al three tiers of Select XLRs). The KS1116 is by far the best value for the money with Select