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Less than a month ago I wrote about revisiting Cardas' Quadlink thru a loaner from a friend. After being impressed -maybe overly and too quickly excited, I found and purchased a new pair (June, 2017) from Parts ConneXion under their Cardas Legacy section.
Like many audiophiles over the past decade I had moved on from the 'old' sound of Cardas and similar sounding cables to clearer, more transparent and sharply defined musical notes and images. About four years ago I settled on Transparent's Super level for both speaker and interconnect wires, which I felt gave me the best of both worlds. And, I've been living happily ever since -until I got back into vinyl.
Side note: About six years ago I sold my TT, phono and most of my vinyl to one person who lives about an hour away. We had stayed in touch so, when the vinyl bug bite me, I contacted him and he agreed to sell me back my 300 or so favourite titles and my phono stage. A great guy -obviously. I also purchased the Rega Planar 3 (2016) with a Nagaoka cartridge.
Now, as the months went buy I noticed how much vinyl was either badly recorded or pressed. So, a friend lent me his Quadlink to use coming out of my Belles phono stage to my Magnum Dynalab 309 Hybrid Integrated amp. I also tried it on my Marantz SA-8005 CD/SACD player. Well, in both cases I enjoyed the music with the Quadlinks delivering the signal to the Magnum 309. Until -I played (CD) Simply Eva by Eva Cassidy and I had to dial back the volume. I'm a fan but, her voice -at times and on this CD, became overbearing. Putting the Transparent Super back to work I realized they were a better IC. But, something about the tone of the Quadlinks attracted me. After much research, soul searching and phone discussions I decided to give Cardas' famous Golden Cross a try.
Having found two relatively unused pairs at the same dealer, I ordered a pair. Upon their arrival I hooked them up to the Marantz to make it easier to re-break them in and decided to do my main listening via the CD player to avoid moving them around. After several hours of warm-up (they hadn't been used in about a decade), I inserted Mary Gauthier's Mercy Now and with minutes I knew I was listening to music the way I like it. Music had a better foundation -seemed to be more grounded, instruments and voices had more body to them and, overall, the music seemed to flow better. It was detailed but, not of the piercing in-the-face type and provided great imaging with a wide and deep soundstage. Could it rock with electric blues? In went Buddy Guy's 'Damn Right, I've Got the Blues' and 'damn right' the Golden Cross could. I next gave a listen to his 'Blues Singer' album and, having attended numerous house-concerts in recent years, I felt even more satisfied sitting at home. Me and Buddy -WOW!
Having attended hundreds of concerts in the past 53 years, starting with the Beatles in Sept. of 1964 to a few weeks ago to hear Quebec's favourite son/poet Gilles Vigneault in a small hall, I am thrilled that the Golden Cross gave me more of the mid-hall perspective I have come to prefer (rows J to P, for example), less forward and the whole more integrated. In no examples were the Transparents cold or analytical but, the Golden Cross' sound was more rounded -more acoustic, tube like and natural -to me, at least. A little bit like why I still prefer my plasma TV over LCDs. Heck, even the hand-clapping on Harry Manx's Road Ragas Live album made me feel part of the audience.
The improvement the Golden Cross brought to the sound of the Marantz SACD/CD player was nothing short of miraculous. It brought richness, depth and tone much like I hear from vinyl playback. I now consider them as one unit for digital playback. With music reproduced with the same results and feelings on my vinyl set-up, I ordered the Dealer's second pair.
As I approach 70, am I done? Who knows. Yes, they may have some colourations (don't they all) but, they are of the type which makes me want to listen to more music -and, isn't that what this is all about.
For what it's worth, Bob
Follow Ups:
Nice one.
I responded to your earlier thread on the Quadlink 5C's and will do the same here.
The Golden Cross is possibly my all time favourite interconnect, I still have them together with Clear Beyond and Clear Reflection.
Try one of the later ones and then chime in here again with your thoughts on the difference between them and the Golden Cross.
I may but, not for some time. Thanks, Bob
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