Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Cardas Audio Golden Reference Power Cord Cable by avsBuddy

Model:	Golden Reference Power Cord
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$561
Description:	Reference AC Power Cord
Manufacturer URL:	Cardas Audio

Review by avsBuddy on March 18, 2011 at 15:13:51
IP Address: 76.185.183.104 Add Your Review
for the Golden Reference Power Cord

I have never written a cable review before, yet I have been interested in this area more intensely than usual in the past year and a half. High end power cables specifically struck me as an odd product, as everything I knew told me they cannot make a difference connected to a hundred of feet of simple cooper wiring and thousands of feet of transmission lines. But by the same token my friends think a $1000 CD player can't make a difference over a typical DVD player spinning CD, so I decided power cables were worth pursuit since I already got into high end cables.

I'm still skeptical of most audiophile cable manufacturers, either because of their overuse of technical words that can't be found in science books. Or it's because of outrageous prices or little boxes attached to the cable that we told are doing everything to the signal by doing nothing to the signal. Cardas on the other hand has been pretty established in the field and were doing audiophile cables before audiophile cables were cool. What I like even more is that Cardas doesn't promise me the world and the pricing seems reasonable.
Enter the 1.5M Golden Reference (GR) Power Cord. It's pretty hefty, yet flexible. You know how people are saying Pangea AC9 is flexible for its size. Well I have AC9 and Cardas GR is a REALLY FLEXIBLE big power cord. GR cable is terminated with Furutech FI15 rhodium plated connectors with which help cable has a pretty secure feel when plugged on either end. It's interesting that FI15 sits near the bottom of the chain of Furutech exotic power plugs, so either Cardas believes there isn't any gain by using pricier plugs or they decided they could shaft consumer with cheap plugs on their top of the line power cord without anyone noticing. I hope it's the former.

I used the cable plugged to my Sony XA9000ES SACD player. While demonstrating awesome detail, this player leans a little bit to the cold sound so my goal was to push it a bit to the warmer side by using cables. I used Pangea AC9 briefly, and it did warm thing up a little bit. However cable was physically too heavy to my liking and I felt that no other aspect of the sound has improved. Followed was Audioquest NRG5 with Wattgate plugs. (I will write a separate review sometime in the future) Audioquest cable opened up the soundstage and introduced the clarity like I didn't inspect. However it didn't address my issue of cold sound with my SACD player. Cardas GR ended up being just what I was looking for. It has introduced clarity that NRG5 brought to the table, but with it, it also brought just the right amount of warmness to the sound. Soundstage was wider than stock cable and maybe a tiny bit narrower than with NRG5 power cord. Everything else about the sound with Cardas cable became for the lack of other words, pleasant. There was not high frequency roll-off that I feared. The bass was very deep, yet tight. I swapped the cables back and worth to make sure that my observations are consistent. With Cardas I'm hearing all the little details that are important to an audiophile in the sound, while completely enjoying the music in a wonderful, well balanced bouquet. And this is really it, that's all I have to say about this cable. Golden Reference Power Cord gave me what I wanted from a high end cable for my Sony SACD player. It did not diminish any of the quantities I liked about music through my Sony player while toning down or removing things I didn't like. I think the price for this cable is fair and if you can get it at a discount through your reputable dealer or fellow audiophile on Audiogon, price becomes a great deal!

On the final note I want to mention aesthetics of this cable. While most customers of such product will beat their chest screaming to the cable skeptics that they make decision based solely on sonics and aesthetics plays no role in shelling big bucks, be honest, aesthetics matters quite a bit. No one pays $14k for an amp that looks like a military surplus from 60s, unless of course it's Manley. Power cords are no different. And in this aspect I feel that Cardas dropped a ball on their GR model. It's a black cable, terminated with black square Furutech plugs with sort of rubber coating and covered with a black heatshrink. The only things that tell you that this is not a $3 PC power cord are: weight, satin cord finish and gold Cardas lettering on the heatshrink. And Cardas notorious cable lettering that rubs off if you breath on it is true on this Golden Reference cable as well. I understand Cardas philosophy of not covering any of their cables with nylon shroud, but they could have picked color other than the Flat Black.

So in the end my verdict for Cardas Golden Reference Power Cord is
Sonics: A, Aesthetics: C, Overall Value: B+. I definitely recommend an audition of this cable and look forward to listening to more Cardas offerings.

Product Weakness:	Packaging: bag will not protect from occasional nicks to your new cable, aesthetics are bland and uninspired. But the greatest weakness of this product is that it will suck you even more into the audiophile cable world.
Product Strengths:	Smooth mid-range, sonically balanced on top and bottom, cable flexibility and Cardas reputation to stand behind their product.

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: B&K 200.5 Ref S2
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Marantz AV8003
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Sony XA9000ES
Speakers: Polk Audio LSi15
Cables/Interconnects: Cardas Quadlink. AQ King Cobra
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Pop, Rock, Jazz and Classical
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner

Amplifier:	B&K 200.5 Ref S2
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Marantz AV8003
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Sony XA9000ES
Speakers:	Polk Audio LSi15
Cables/Interconnects:	Cardas Quadlink. AQ King Cobra
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Pop, Rock, Jazz and Classical
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner