Cable upgrades

Yes Cardas are warm and bassy. If the cables were not in use for few months, I’d say it’s possible that they need more time. But it’s unlikely that the lower bass will all of a sudden show up. I thought they were new.
Another question…is the DAC gain at the XLR outs set to 0db? There are jumpers inside the DAC that you can use to alter the gain.  

@ghdprentice I wondered the same thing, as this was certainly not the sonic effect I was expecting.  The seller was a reputable Canuck Audio Mart member, but he may have not known if they were legit or not.  The lettering on the cables has all but disappeared, except for the stencil on the XLR sheaths.  I've read on the Cardas site that the only way to know if it's counterfeit is to cut the cable open to check the internals.  That's an exercise I'm probably not going to attempt at this point.

@audphile1 Thanks for your suggestion, but the DAC jumpers have been properly set for output matching going directly to the AHB2, as per the manual; and have been this way since initial setup.  And yes, the lower bass didn't appear over the course of a week of running in, so I doubt that more hours would make a difference.

It's definitely a steep part of my learning curve, thus my reticence to purchase without demo, going forward.

Best, JAMES.

James…talk to the seller. Propose to authenticate the cables by sending to Cardas. If they check out, all is well. If they don’t, you should be issued a refund. You shouldn’t be the one taking a hit. 

@jimboman would you mind sharing the photos from the original ad, if you can locate the former sold/expired ad, or search from Hifishark.

A few thoughts, even on some of the older versions, the jacket label lettering should still look pretty decent and not rubbing off on Golden Reference. It can be possible to spot counterfeits too, visually, with some back and forth photo comparisons - if the photos are decent. I looked over a few old ads, not sure which ad they are from. The seller should have no issue with you sharing the former public ad if they are legit.

Note; There was this one seller on Canuck last year who was selling cables with zip bags, not the original container boxes from Cardas, and sorta what appeared to look almost like color copied factory paperwork. I inquired a few times on these particular cables, and mentioned I’d be shipping them to Cardas for authentication, immediately, and never received a reply. I saw them reposted a few times, same photos. So I inquired again, several months later and got no reply. Will try to help figure out ifs the same person or not. They should have serial number paperwork with them, all of my former Clear Reference, Clear Cygnus, Parsec, Clear Reflection and others all had this. Most people dont easily lose the real papers and containers when it comes to Cardas. You do see this with dealer trade-ins some.

NEXT:

If you don’t return them for a refund, its almost a must to send them to Cardas for verification in case you decide to resale them later. And, at least you’ll know and have the proper papers with the cables for someone to take them off your hands. All of my former three pairs of Golden Cross cables were sent to Cardas and i had them reterminated with the new style solderless connectors, with papers, before I resold them. New happy owners now too, fyi fwiw.

@decooney I have the pics from the CAM ad...not sure how to post them, but I'll PM you a link to the original ad, as I don't want to use this forum to call him out publicly.

There was no original paperwork/container boxes with the cables.  Perhaps I should've known better...

@audphile1 I still think the seller probably didn't know the status of the cables.  For what it's worth, he's got 165 transactions, and 100% positive feedback.  I'm really not sure I can hold him responsible if they are counterfeit.  It's more my lack of due diligence, if that is the case.  If they aren't fake, then I don't know what Cardas can do to satisfy what I heard in my system..?

Thanks again for your help.  I really appreciate it.

Best, JAMES.