@decooney it’s the strong Thiel upper-midrange, which they are known for. The parsec speaker cable definitely tamed the tweeter a bit but it did not have very good bass, so I sold it. Still have some parsec XLR interconnects but they don’t seem to have as much influence on the sound. I am running a full Bryston "cubed" stack (BDP-3, BDA-3, 17B3, 4B3). Walls and ceiling are treated.
I don’t have a Cardas digital cable (Transparent Premium AES/EBU there). I am using short Cardas Cross XLRs on the DAC, and Golden Presence RCAs on the phono.
So far these Transparent Ultra Gen V speaker cables are the best match. They have good bass and transparency without emphasizing any frequency. I agree that the Clear Reflection should have been the ticket. Bass was phenomenal but it also sounded harsh - as if they were not broken in enough, although they were trade-ins, not brand new. That is not what I would expect so I don't think I was imagining it.
I am curious to try the older Golden Reference when a used pair comes up. I tried Golden Presence speaker but it has some extra upper-mid air or "presence" that the GR is not supposed to. There is something about the Clear line that I just don’t like. When I tried a Cygnus phono cable it seemed to emphasize upper mids and bring vocals forward in an unrealistic manner as well.