General Asylum: REVIEW: Cardas Audio Lightning Cable by Keith Chan

There are some who refer to the special "Cardas magic" when they compare audio cables - certainly this cable manufacturer's name is quite well known in the industry, especially their famous Quadlink and (Golden) Cross lines. After having recently acquired digital separates, I had the need of a satisfying digital interconnect between the CD transport and the D/A converter. Many audiophiles have probably found themselves in the same boat - their digital frontend does not support the new I2S, or the AES/EBU, formats, and they question the value of spending hundreds of dollars on a single 75-ohm digital cable. After all, one of the strong points of digital transmission was how the signal is less susceptible to noise - how can one justify spending upwards of the cost of their transport for a single Marigo Apparition, a Siltech HF-8si, or an Illuminati D60, with selling words like "air-articulated Teflon" and "Hyper-pure silver"?

Finally, after having heard much rave about a budget DIY digital interconnect, I build a run of the Max Rochlin DIY memorial cable (see http://www.enjoythemusic.com). It has been said that this cable performs very well, even when compared to those in the sub $200 range, and with the cable costing about $20, it was worth a shot. However, I was still curious (how can you not, with all that rave?) about how "reference quality" cables like the Illuminati D60 sounded. So, it was with great interest that I auditioned this top-of-the-line Cardas digital interconnect.

Let me take an aside here to describe my system: I am in a rather small, 108 square foot dorm room. My speakers are roughly 6 feet apart, and I sit about 6-7 feet away from each of them in my "listening area". It is quite an entry-level system, perhaps slightly on the dark side of neutral. The system is quite fast sounding, and quite revealing, but not smooth, largely due to the speakers and the amp. The highs can get quite thin and shrilly, and the overall sound quite dry. However, it is a very listenable system, and is definitely capable of showing minute differences in any part of the chain. The Cardas Lightning has been used before, and had roughly 100+ hours of burn-in here as well. The auditioning was done A/B/A.

In went the nearest CD, which was the Broadway Cast recording of the musical "Jekyll & Hyde". The first thing I jotted down was "Highs more extendedâ€¦. A I R !!!". There was a sense of space around each of the singers, especially during solos. This "air" around each person's voice gave a first hint of the recording environment of the music, which I have no noticed before. The high frequencies seemed to be slightly more extended. In fact, the greatest change which the Lightning brought to the tonality was how it greatly smoothened the tops; there was a significant reduction of the edginess in the upper notes, although it was still thin and grainy sounding. However, the high frequencies definitely sounded more musical now, and was no longer just part of the noise. This was tested with the RCA Victor recording of Jascha Heifetz playing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto - if you know that piece, then you'll know how important a beautiful high is for the entire Concerto to come out.

And talk about musicalâ€¦. the change in tonality brought a greater sense of musical coherency to the system. Everything just sounded moreâ€¦. "right", and the individual parts fit together more. There music had a greater sense of pace, bringing on a new level of excitement. The usually enjoyable "Mr.Jones", by Counting Crows, took on a new sense of swing.

There was a change in the midrange as well. Natalie Merchant had more bloom in her voice, and the singing was more "full" and rounded out. Instead of having a forward sound, however, it seemed more refined, more mellow. At the same time, it took away the midrange bloat which I used to have in my system - a rather pleasant addition which also further added to the overall musicality effect of this cable.

So, perhaps this fun-sounding, musically enveloping, and enticing sound is what people call the Cardas magic. Is it worth $230? Well, I'm not sure - this cable does have its own set of flaws. I noticed that I lost a great deal of the vibrato in Sarah McLachlan; I swapped my Max Rochlin cable back in, and a lot of the microdynamics, the vibratos, and the background details immediately came back. There is a greater separation, sonically (but not spatially), between each of the instruments with the DIY cable as well. There is also more bass oomph present, which I definitely can not live without in my entry-level system, and the Cardas was not as dynamic either.

The differences were certainly significant; as many people say, it's very difficult to hold a true and constant 75-ohm impedence for a perfect signal transmission in such a cable. The Max Rochlin cable definitely feels more truthful, showing more of what's there, but the Cardas sure sounded good (which is what this is all about, right?). It's definitely a step closer in my personal tastes of bringing me closer to a more personal, enticing audio system - but I would also ideally want to retain that amounts of detail, dynamics, resolution, and bass in such a musical cable as the Cardas, and if it's possible in a $20 DIY cable, I'd like to see that in a $200 "reference" cable.

In conclusion, I'd definitely have to say that such digital cable is worth it. All it takes is finding the right one to suit your taste; for me, the Cardas was not enough for me to put down $200. But it was sure hard taking it back out of my system, and it was sure a small touch of magic while it was there.

-Keith Chan

Associated equipment:
CAL Delta Transport
Entech "Numbers Cruncher" 203.2 DAC
McCormack MicroLineDrive (passive)
Parasound HCA-1000A power amp
Paradigm Minimonitors
DH Labs BL-1 interconnects and T-14 speaker cables
Vibrapods, BDR Cones (#4), PolyCrystal isolators

REVIEW: Cardas Audio Lightning Cable Review by Keith Chan at Audio Asylum