Why did you take the Equinox over the Cardas or vice versa?

I went with the Equinox for the following reasons:

1. There were some posters that felt the Equinox sounded better with tube amps than did the Cardas...I have an EarMax Pro that has glowing tubes

2. The issue of the muddled middle concerned me, since I greatly enjoy female vocals, and did not want to compromise anything there. In all fairness, this could have been due to all sorts of stuff... interconnects, amps, source, etc...who knows???

3. A few people reported loose connectors with the Cardas, but this is supposed to be an HD600 issue(???) rather than an issue with the the Cardas custom connectors. There were only a few cases, and none recently I believe, so this is probably a non-issue, but it did factor into my decision.

4. Comfort & ease of use: The Equinox is more flexible.

5. Looks...I'll take sophisticated black over smurf blue any day

6. Several posters who had the opportunity to hear both cables heard only slight differences between the two cables, & some even no difference, though both cables were reported as significantly better than the stock. So that let me know that no matter which cable I went with, I would be definitely be getting an audible improvement (which I did), so I should just pick the one I was leaning towards.

I did not have the opportunity to see/hear them side by side, but the above was what determined my selection, so now I am a happy & satisfied owner of the HD600+e.

Ditto, LarryS...(my bedroom system).

This is a cable thread. I'll move it there shortly.

I chose the Cardas because of Jude's review and because it costs less. I think Cardas was the only one available at the time I bought it anyway.

When I did get to hear both cables side by side at the Boston WOH show, I still preferred the Cardas, albeit on the solid-state Max. The Cardas seemed to be more neutral and better-extended in the higher frequencies.

I haven't found the Cardas to be at all muddied in the midrange and I use a Melos SHA-1, which is a hybrid solid-state/tube design (tube output, I believe). It sounds great for me, though I use the Grado HP1000 all the time now.

Cardas with the EarMax Pro, did anyone mentioned that it has glowing tubes

based solely on the cardas reputation, jude's review(other feedbacks), its cheaper and the fact that there's a local distributor in sydney.

I have heard both of these cables, I personally liked the Cardas better due to the fact that it let me listen to all the details easier.

i went with the Equinox because all the AKG K501 guys were peeing themselves over the HD600s and the cardas. i want my HD580s to sound like the HD580s, not the K501, thank you!

i heard both the cardas and the equinox at the headroom show and the cardas seemed quite a bit brighter.

another reason i bought the equinox was because i could get one from head-fi'er tuberoller. he's a great guy to deal with. i like keeping things in the head-fi family.

I listen to two HD600's side by side, one with either cable, using the Sugden Headmaster as the amp. My source is as below in my signature. I preferred the Equinox over the Cardas because the Equinox had a wider soundstage and better bass for me. Female vocals sounded distinctly better to me with the Equinox. I feel the Equinox has better tonal balance overall, but the Cardas does seem a little brighter. I, however, don't have a problem with treble on the baseline HD 600. I will be getting a ASL Twin Head preamp soon to compare the two on tubes.

whatever you want, they're your ears and it's your money. you can waste both however you so choose. (just kidding!)

actually, I had a hard time discerning any differences between the two cables at the meet; they were different, but I'd have to listen for a longer period before I'd feel confident enough to say which I felt was better. I left the meet preferring the cardas for the most part, however the equinox looks much better.

surely HD600 with the upgraded cable has every bit as sweet midrange as the 501s? surely it beats it hands down?

Actually, I really like that comment I made; I think I'll make it my primary nerudaism from now on.

whoah, sparky! where'd I say that?

in some ways yes, in some ways no. What the cardas (and equinox, though perhaps to a lesser extent?) does is it fills up the upper midrange gap in the HD600's response, as well as tightening up the midbass. These were the major issues I had with the HD600. So with either of those cables, the HD600 becomes much more accurate, much more musical, and much more listenable to my ears. On complicated passages with a lot of instruments playing, the HD600 with cardas cable sounds superior to the K501 in that the K501 becomes muddled, whereas the HD600 keeps its composure. However, when it comes to solo instruments and simpler passages, there's still something about that K501's midrange that the HD600 lacks. bear in mind, overall I prefer the "CA600" (or HD600ca?) to the K501; as I've implied, I think the cardas cable sort of K501-izes the HD600s, giving them the seamless midrange which I require. Sometimes I can't tell the difference between the two. I think the CA600 sounds very close to the K501 but with a more extended treble and more extended bass (among other things), which I like a lot. But when you consider the fact that you can pick up a brand new K501 for $150, the price of the cardas cable, it holds up very well to the CA600.

Anyway, I'm going to be buying a new pair of K501s soon to replace my broken ones, but I intend to have an HD600 with cardas cable eventually. But if I can't have the cardas cable, then I'll just take my K501s, thank you. They do just fine.

I think the Clou extends the capabilities of the Senns without changing it... whereas the Equinox goes even further toward perfection.

The Cardas sounds great, but it does seem to change the basic nature of the Sennheisers. Hey! If I wanted a different headphone, I'd buy one. I'm one of the few people who prefers the Clou to the Cardas because I like that "Sennheiser sound".

Different strokes...