Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Cardas Audio Quadlink 5C Cable by readargos Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys.

For Sale Ads FAQ / News / Events

Model:	Quadlink 5C
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$234/m
Description:	Speaker Cables
Manufacturer URL:	Cardas Audio

Review by readargos on March 16, 2009 at 17:06:12 IP Address: 24.12.175.142

Add Your Review for the Quadlink 5C

---

Six years ago, I auditioned a well-reviewed hybrid tube-transistor integrated amplifier. The salesman situated me and left the room. I spun old mono Lena Horne, excellently recorded, and got into the music. Lena’s voice was husky, creating a nearly palpable image. The salesman returned after a time and switched interconnect and speaker cables to get a feel for my sonic preference. The new cables were brighter (more open?), with more apparent detail, and compared favorably to my mental audiophile checklist. Intellectually, I thought that I *should* prefer the brighter cables, but I didn't. It was a gut-level reaction. The salesman put the original cables back in, and informed me that I had chosen Cardas over a competing brand. The competing cables cost twice as much.

Despite the plain difference wire made, I attributed my enjoyment primarily to the integrated’s tubed circuitry. When I was prepared to commit to a purchase a little later, the dealer no longer carried the amp, and I went another direction. Half a decade on, with a system that did not gel like I thought it could, I began again to wonder about the Cardas sound. Curiosity got the better of me. For once that turned out to be a good thing.

Cardas cables have the build quality of a luxury product. They're pleasantly heavy and use the finest vinyl available for the cable sleeve. I sense pride in workmanship. Handling them is a tactile pleasure that provides a clue to their sonic characteristics.

Cardas’ excellence lies in subtlety and musicality, not razor-sharp edge definition, or transient speed, or other tricks of audio spectacular. I appreciate their refinement, and rank their overall achievement highly. This is in direct contrast to certain audiophile cables. How do I differentiate? An illustration serves.

At one dealer, I have heard a $100K+ system in a customized room. While the spectacle was impressive, the music did not leave a lasting impression. At another dealer, I heard a $50K system in a treated, but not customized, room. That system made a deeper impression, not just of sonic spectacle, but of musical excellence. If the spectacle does not contribute to musical excellence, an audio system becomes a kind of sideshow best suited for a handful of demonstration discs.

With traditional audiophile cables, I always felt what they contributed was good, but I needed another upgrade because the system wasn't quite there yet. I had gone down a road where cables got brighter and more detailed, but also "shouty" and washed out harmonically. Improvements in one area made the mechanics of the playback chain more apparent in another. It was a cycle that fed on itself.

Despite my previous cable choices being politically correct, I had been going the wrong direction, capitalizing on the strengths of my system while failing to remedy its weaknesses. Cardas put me on "la diritta via".

With speakers and electronics that can tend toward leanness (see "Associated Equipment"), Cardas bring balance. I don't feel an urgency to rush out and buy better wire to get that much closer. Cardas offer a rich presentation with deep tonal hues: a harmonic restorative; a salve for the soul.

In more specific terms, Cardas excel at naturalness. They lack the edge definition and transient attack of some cables, but in the concert hall (unless I’m seated very close), I don't hear the attack so much as the bloom. I'm reminded of Magnepan speakers in this regard, which are some of the best speakers for drum reproduction. The initial transient is somewhat blunted (Maggies aren't known for their slam), but the resonating body of the drum blossoms fully into the room. That is what I hear at concerts with mid-hall, floor-level seating. I see and hear the percussionist hit the timpani, but it's the resonating body of the drum *following* the initial attack that causes wave after palpable wave to roll over me. Cardas cables get that right.

The Quadlink cables provide a good dose of palpability and tangible air. They carve out air and space much like a great tube amp. I get a wonderful sense of venue acoustic and hall sound. Cardas add texture, another thing that tubes do well. Texture enriches, makes better sense of the materials of which instruments are composed, and makes instrumental play more tactile. The presentation is both more supple and more sinuous. It's warm and embracing. It contributes to image density.

The system sounds larger than before. Soundstage and imaging are generous and continuous, but more in a tube-driven sense than in a spotlighted or pinpoint fashion. The entire bass spectrum is brought up markedly. It's surprising how much more information is coming from the sub, and how much more articulate it is. Of course, dual eights can’t move as much air as a larger sub, but it better plumbs the depths. Bass actually bordered on overwhelming, and I lowered my sub’s output by almost 3 db to restore balance.

Though on the warm side, these are nevertheless high fidelity cables. The presentation does not descend into monochromatic euphony or sonic mush, and differences in recording quality and venue remain audible. I think where naysayers will find Cardas problematic is high frequency performance. Cymbal splashes and triangles, for example, don't quite shimmer and float with the gossamer delicacy of brighter cables. Cardas argue that other cables actually "ring", whereas their cable geometry dampens ringing for greater accuracy. Though I understand the argument, others may find the cables a little closed in.

I do not, in absolute terms, find Cardas to sound dark or closed in. Certainly, they are less bright than much of the competition, but that does not make them dark per se. Against expectations, for a "dark" cable, they are actually the most detailed I've had in my current rig. I'm discovering musically significant new information on loads of CDs: significant because it contributes to the aforementioned space and texture. It could be that the cables have very low self-noise. By reducing internal cable resonance and ringing, Cardas claim their geometry allows more music to come through. Detail does not seem hyped, as some cables, but relaxed, natural, at ease. Spectacular cables (and systems), by contrast, try too hard without ever achieving that certain je ne sais qua.

Cardas cables seem louder than others, and dynamics tend toward staggering, just as live music. When the Gladiator soundtrack gets going, watch out! It threatens to raise the roof, and I've been more sensitive to volume levels. Fortunately, Cardas are well balanced for late-night listening, preserving dynamics at low volume. I don't need to play music as loudly to get the impact, though loud is certainly fun at times.

I've listened to a lot of music on the Cardas, not always well-recorded, and run a gamut of styles: baroque, classical, mono and stereo romantic, mono and stereo opera; rock, pop, synth, electronica; mono and stereo jazz. There is nothing I don't like more through the Cardas. They're about richness, texture, image density, warmth, and palpable rendering of space, which qualities achieve synergy with my system. I consider $200 for a half-meter pair to be something of a bargain for the deft touch and overall refinement these cables achieve. I appreciate the fact that even the most expensive Cardas cables remain quite reasonably priced in the current state of the exotic high end.

Caveats? Cardas could be too rich, too dark, or too bass-heavy for systems already inclined that direction. It could be argued they function much like an old-fashioned loudness control, which some listeners will object. If you prefer a brighter sound or (what is considered) a more neutral sound, edge definition, transient speed, and race-car performance, these are not the cables for you. Cardas are more luxurious, but they keep me comfortable, relaxed, and into the musical flow right up to the end of a Bruckner symphony.

N.B.: This review is of Quadlink version that was updated sometime after 2004. My cables were purchased in 2008.

---

Product Weakness:	N/A
Product Strengths:	N/A

---

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier:	Musical Fidelity A308cr
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Musical Fidelity A308cr
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Musical Fidelity A308cr
Speakers:	JMlab Electra 915.1, M&K MX-700
Cables/Interconnects:	Cardas Quadlink 5C, Signal Cable Magic Power (pre and power) and Digital Reference (CD), Homemade External Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical, Jazz, Rock, Electronica
Room Size (LxWxH):	17 x 12 x 9
Room Comments/Treatments:	Long wall setup, 5'x8' area rug
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 year
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

---

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Schiit Audio

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---