Moving up from Cardas Clear

Try some Cardas Hexlink Golden 5C and experience. I have had many ultra high end speaker cables in my system but the 5Cs have proven to be the most consistent, reliable, warm sounding and enjoyable one across a wide spectrum of music. You cannot go really wrong with this one. Also their used prices make them a bargain. In my system, i keep alternating between my Cardas and my Jorma Unity speaker cables depending on music. But the Cardas is the all rounder, sweet cable while Jorma is the more focused and clean one.

Camb, they still have Golden Ref but in my system , there is some sibilance with it although not with Clear even though Golden Ref is the warmer cable overall.

Lall, Hexlink Golden 5C is supposed to be faster but less warm than Golden Cross or Golden Ref

Mickey,

I've replaced my Cardas Clear Light cables with Clear upstream of the preamp.

I'm now thinking of replacing the long Clear Light IC's from the preamp to the amp with Clears.

My opinion of Clear Light IC's is that they are very close to Clears with a bit less bottom end, a bit less sweetness on the top and perhaps a bit less organic. In other words, I might put it as Clear Lights are 80% as good as Clears at 1/3rd the price.

I suspect in most systems you won't hear the difference.

Half a year later, I find myself looking for answers to the original question! Mikey8811, I was surprised to read your comparison between the GR and Clear. I had GR XLR's in my system and compared them to the Clear and PAD Corvus. I tried the Clear first. I played a few Celine Dion songs to test for sibilance and was surprised to find that the Clear had much less than the GR. I felt the Clear was better in every way and didn't feel that the high's were highlighted. Kind of the best of the GR's were enhanced and weaknesses addressed. The Clear had a very wide soundstage, but didn't have the soundstage depth I was seeking. The Corvus did that and I chose that cable for my CDP to Integrated amp.

Well it now turns out that my integrated amp has jumpers between the pre-out and amp-in. Jumpers of any sort have been terrible. I decided to try a short GR interconnect instead, and voila the system sounds great. So now I'm looking for GR replacement... again.

So far I haven't come across a cable that would all out beat the clear by a significant margin without paying quite a price. I think the PAD Canorus would offer all the Clear's great traits and much more (judging by the power cord), while offering the warm sound of the GR. However, at 8K retail, I don't think this is happening. I recently listed to the XLO Unlimited and found it to be an exceptional cable (vs Valhalla). I think it's very comparable to the Clear and may be sweeter in sound. There's a review by Luminator (google search) that compares the Limited to Clear speaker cables. However, I can't find the XLO cables anywhere (no longer made). This would leave the Synergistic Research Apex (without bullets) as the only cable I know of that can match the Clear, produce a 'warm' sound, and can be found for Clear prices or less. It's big though, and will not fit in my rack or integrated amp well...

There is another solution though. Furutech has an AC receptacle called the GTX-D. The Gold version offers a warm tone. However, the Rhodium version is said to be better because it does not have that layer of warmth. The GTX-D gold has thus been criticized. However, for those of using Home Depot receptacles, need some warmth, and an increase in dynamics, resolution, etc, this could be a cost effective upgrade that may provide the right balance.

I have bought a GTX-D Gold. And now I'll pick up a Cardas Clear IC again.

Funny thing. I found some Golden Cross and am now considering picking up a GTX-D Gold or Rhodium.

What receptacles are you currently using? Let me know how the GTX-D Gold sounds with the Golden Ref cabling.