Cardas versus Nirvana in the Whole System Context


The Cardas house-sound is often described as warm, dimensional and musical. That's an apt description of how one of my all-time favorite cable sets, the Cardas Golden Cross, sounded in a previous system of mine: ProAc 2.5s mated to Cary 805C amplifiers. The Golden Cross is suited to a wide variety of systems ranging from bright-cool (yang) to warm-dark (ying). The Cardas Golden Cross is a versatile and great-sounding cable, and one that a certain tube amplifier manufacturer recommended as the best "real world" priced cable available.


The Golden Reference is an ultra-high performance cable set that diverges from the mythical Cardas "house sound" in its almost perfect neutrality that leans slightly to the yang -- white or bright -- side of the sonic spectrum. This aspect of the Golden Reference requires that you carefully match it to the rest of your system to extract maximum performance. If the associated combination of components were too lean, it can give a bit of a bright and edgy quality to the overall sound. For example, my Duo-Vibe-Fi combination of components is a bit forward and bright, hence well matched with the Nirvana cables. However, substituting the full Golden Reference cable set pushed it a little over the edge, making it a mite too aggressive for my tastes. Substituting the Harbeth Monitor 30 loudspeakers for the Duos warmed things up enough to make the Golden Reference cable set a perfect match and produce spectacular and musical sound.


The Golden Reference had an overall perspective that put you closer to the stage than many cables, with directness and immediacy that I suspect many will find enticing. The Golden Reference is easily the most detailed cable set I have ever heard. It recovers an astonishing amount of information. The Golden Reference also cast a soundstage both wide and deep, with a great sense of voluminous space. Transparency was extraordinary, with razor-sharp image clarity that was truly world-class. It became child's play to pinpoint images on the soundstage. I could routinely hear low-level image details that remained completely inaudible with the Nirvana cable set. Interestingly, the Golden Reference placed images within the soundstage in different places than the Nirvana. The pace, rhythm and timing qualities of the Cardas cables were superb and the Golden Reference will keep your foot tappin' to the tune.


The Nirvana cable set is more to the ying side of the spectrum, imbuing a light tan or golden glow to the sound. The soundstage perspective of the Nirvana puts the musical performance slightly farther back than did the Golden Reference, but both cable sets create an up-close and personal rapport with the music. The Nirvana is not as detailed as the Golden Reference or Golden Cross for that matter, but there is still plenty of musically realistic detail. If anything, the Nirvana sounded more musically natural, the Golden Reference somewhat HiFi-ish when using the Duo-Fi-Vibe gear combination of gear while reversing this order when the Harbeth Monitor 30s were substituted. When reading my description of the Golden Reference's sonic qualities, you might think that it trounced the Nirvana from a sonic perspective - and it did regardless of the speakers used. However, the Nirvana trounced it right back in its superior ability to play music and deliver that full emotive punch - the old conundrum of sound versus music.


TASmanian devil Stephæn stopped by for a little impromptu Cardas-Nirvana comparo. Stephæn didn't cotton to the balance of the Cardas Golden Reference in the Duo-Fi-Vibe system, thinking it a touch HiFi-ish. He also noted an increased sense of left-right separation and image height differences in comparison to the Nirvana. Stephæn thought that the comparatively leaner and more detailed sound of the Golden References caused a loss of body sound with stringed instruments and vocalists, instead emphasizing their head sound. However, with the Harbeth-Fi-Vibe combination, Stephæn was favorably impressed with the Cardas though still a little troubled by its bass response -- a mite overblown said he -- but Stephæn admittedly likes his bottoms a little tighter and leaner than most. Inserting the Golden Reference speaker cables between Stephæn's Art Audio PX-25 and Cain & Cain Ben loudspeakers as an additional data point, it struck me as the best-sounding of all the different cables Stepæen had on hand though my friend demurred, thinking the Audience Au24 the cat's meow instead.


In describing the relative sonic differences between the Cardas and Nirvana cabling systems, I have a handy analogy with acoustic guitars: My friend John April stopped by with his new Santa Cruz Guitar Company D Pre-War decked out in Sitka spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. The pre-war designation refers to the guitar's light build and internal advanced X-bracing, similar to the way Martin guitars of the pre-war 1930s were built. When John plays the Santa Cruz, it tends to emphasize the sound of the body's contribution to the tone. It produce a warmer and smoother presentation with a nice woody resonant sound, great for folk and rhythm playing. After serenading me on the Santa Cruz, John picked up my Gibson Custom Shop Advanced Jumbo with Adirondack spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides, a close recreation of a 1936 Gibson.


Its combination of the harder Adirondack/Brazilian wood combination give the Gibson a brighter and more percussive sound that emphasizes the string tone instead of the body- perfect for bluegrass playing. These are two great guitars, the finest examples I have heard of their ilk - and, the Santa Cruz and Gibson sound very different for their very different intended applications.


So it is with the Cardas and Nirvana cable systems. They are both extraordinarily good at what they do. Depending on your tastes and system, one will probably be a better match than the other. The Cardas is more like my Adirondack/ Brazilian Gibson Advanced Jumbo. It tends to emphasize string tone. It is both brighter and more percussive than the Nirvana. There's also a more potent sense of air and space with somewhat more prominent bass. If you have a warmly balanced system, I think the Cardas would be an extraordinary match. Accordingly, it sounded spectacular with the somewhat warm and laid-back Harbeth Monitor 30s. It was a match less happy with my own Avantgarde Duos which are leaner than the seductive Harbeths. The Cardas Golden Reference cable system that Jim Smith of Avantgarde USA used with Balanced Audio Electronics at the 2004 CES sounded absolutely spectacular with his Super Duos. So the lesson to take home is this: Cardas Golden Reference cables can shine in any number of system contexts but are probably better suited to those systems that are a bit more warmly balanced. Given that caveat, I suspect you will be blown away by how good they sound in the right kind of setting.


The Nirvana is more like the Santa Cruz guitar - more rounded, it tends to emphasize the woody body of instruments more than their string tone for a more laid-back and natural presentation. It is also more even across the frequency range than the Cardas and has less bass boost. The Nirvana tends to be more tolerant of a wider range of recordings, letting the musical message through regardless of the recording quality. The Nirvana doesn't have the detail and resolution of the Golden Reference but it isn't far off. I think the Nirvana cable will appeal more to those who have a neutral to more brightly balanced, leaner and more forward system like my own.


Doing a full system review of cables is a daunting task and not one I wish to repeat anytime soon. It's a bit like doing five different reviews all at once and trying to discuss them intelligently. As I was relaxing with a glass of wine while wrapping up the review in my study, there was a knock at the door. I waited for Delphi to answer the door. For some reason, she didn't. My visitor again knocked, quite loudly this time. I quickly walked to the entry way and opened the door, finding an astonishingly lovely lady standing there holding out a letter to me. "Your letter was in with my mail by mistake", she said. "It looked important so I thought I'd drop it off to you." "Thank you", I said, "that's very kind of you." She turned and walked down the walkway, then turned and looked back at me with a little wave and a smile before rounding the corner of the house. Feeling like a dolt for not asking my unknown neighbor in for a cup of coffee or glass of wine, I hurried to the end of the walk to see if I could correct my mistake. Alas, she was already out of sight. Damn. Standing there under the full moon, I noticed the postmark on the letter. It was from Paris. Curious, I opened it to find a short note. I read it in the moonlight:


Dear Dr. Day,
When you are in Paris in April, do stop by for a visit. I have a terrific new Brahms disk that you simply must hear!

Oh and by the way, she will be here.
André.


Wondering what to make of this peculiar invitation, I gazed up into the endless night sky just in time to see a comet streak across it. Just as the comet faded into blackness, I spotted Venus glittering in the firmament. "Oui," I thought, "Nous verrons ce que nous verrons." I walked back into the house with a knowing smile on my face. I poured another glass of wine while letting the system warm up for a listening session. Then I noticed that the rosewood box and Cardas Golden Reference cable set were gone. I dialed Brian up on the phone. "Brian, enough of the practical jokes. First you do a stealth drop for the cables that almost gets me crosswise with the best house manager I've ever had. Now you've nabbed the cables out from under my nose! I want those cables back - I'm not ready to let them go yet!" There was silence on the phone for a moment, then Brian quipped "Jeff, I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't sent the review set of cables out to you yet - I was planning on doing it this week."

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