The Cardas Golden Reference cables are great cables. And for the past few years we have also been making our own interconnects (manufactured by Cardas to our specifications), that are especially designed to work well with our equipment.
But as always, you should listen for yourself before purchasing. There is probably more disagreement concerning cables than any other component.
The other thing to remember is that both the Ayre and Cardas cables are extremely sensitive to break-in. When they are new, they require at least 100 to 200 hours of play to get sounding good. At first they sound pretty good, but a little bit "tight". Then they will go through a murky phase and then a bright phase, and finally start to sound the way they are supposed to. And if they have been physically moved, they will take another 10 to 20 hours of play to get back to normal again.
But as always, you should listen for yourself before purchasing. There is probably more disagreement concerning cables than any other component.
The other thing to remember is that both the Ayre and Cardas cables are extremely sensitive to break-in. When they are new, they require at least 100 to 200 hours of play to get sounding good. At first they sound pretty good, but a little bit "tight". Then they will go through a murky phase and then a bright phase, and finally start to sound the way they are supposed to. And if they have been physically moved, they will take another 10 to 20 hours of play to get back to normal again.