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Warm Interconnects

First, apologies as I know this has been asked before...a lot. I'm looking for a warm interconnect to balance out my system, but not wanting to break the bank if I can help it. I know everyone has favorites and the one I hear more often than not is the Cardas Golden Cross, but would like to find something similiar in tone but at a lower price. I've read/researched room treatments, speaker placement, etc and tried most of it, but it's the same results. I'll list my setup here, but to start I own Monitor Audio Silver 8s (last of the British made). They're bright in character already, I know (gold tweeter, but same as their gold reference line).

System is -
Benchmark DAC1 with HiFi tuning fuses fed by Shunyata Taipan Alpha Helix power cable
Musical Fidelity A308I Integrated fed by PS Audio Mini-Lab power cable
Monitor Audio Silver 8s
Shunyata Hydra 4 fed by Taipan Alpha Helix
Audioquest Bedrock 8' Bi-wire speaker cable
Tributaries .5 meter SCA-150 Silver RCAs from DAC to amp (these, I believe, are the major culprit as I hear that silver doesn't go well with solid state gear).

I'm demoing a pair of Home Grown Audio Silver Lace RCAs at the moment, but this was just to confirm silver is poor with my setup (and it looks like silver is, though the Silver Lace are an improvement).

Any thoughts are appreciated.
mb9061
digsmithd
913 posts
 
I recommend acoustic zen matrix also,anything az is high on my list.
mb9061 OP
137 posts
 
Anyone A/B the Golden Cross to the Acoustic Zen Matrix (or Matrix II)? Curious how those would sound.

I picked up a pair of Audioquest Jaguar DBS to demo and compare to the HGA Silver Lace. Completely different cables in my opinion, but both good for what they're designed for I imagine. The Jaguars are more dynamic with a better soundstage, they tame the extreme highs a bit but also add too much etch for my taste. Imagine they'd work well in the right system. The HGAs are brighter, but also smoother in the upper treble. Not as much low end, but decent tight bass response. Don't appear to be as dynamic in my setup as the Audioquests though.

I guess I'm down to either the Golden Cross or AZ Matrix, hopefully either will be an improvement over the AQ Jaguar DBS.
nolitan
865 posts
 
purist audio design
qdrone
1,039 posts
 
Give the Audience AU24 interconnects a listen in your system. On Agon I see them being sold on the cheap used or going for a lot less than a pair of used Cardas Golden Reference interconnects which they do sound similar too. Very warm sounding.
mb9061 OP
137 posts
 
Thanks again for the responses. I ended up trading my Monitor Audio Silver 8's in on a pair of Quad 22L2's, which opened up things quite a bit for soundstage and got me away from the hard dome tweeter (lost a little low end slam, but the MA's were too much in that dept too). So far I'm pretty happy with the new speakers (great soundstage presentation), now just still trying to find a good IC to match with everything. Quad's finish is incredible for the price.

I also picked up a used pair of Cardas Golden Cross interconnects to try. They are initially incredibly bright, which is a suprise. Very resolving, but bright (no etch however). I'm told to let them settle, but not initially impressed as it's too much upper frequency, regardless of how clean it is. Can a used IC really take 3 days of continuous play for the HF to calm down???

Was also demoing a pair of Audioquest Panther DBS and they were much less bright, although had an annoying etch to them I didn't care for. Giving the Crosses some time to settle in, but they're revealing for being labled "warm". Had to dampen some of my isolation setup to calm down the upper HF. Next on the list is Accoustic Zen Matrix IIs...
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