[size=xx-small] Quote:
Originally posted by dparrish
Okay, the thread title has been modified slightly. Is there anyone who has listened to BOTH cables and could quantify the differences?
Thanks! |
[/size]dparrish,
I've only heard the first-generation Acoustic Zen Silver Reference, and it was one of my favorite interconnects ever (and might still be if I had a set around). I feel safe in saying the Acoustic Zen Silver Reference had slightly better upper octave extension, and an airier presentation.
The Cardas Golden Reference, since putting it in my rigs, has, however, so far been my reference standard (please note that I've not yet used other heavyweights like the Kimber Select or Nordost Valhalla) due to its ability to do everything I loved so much about the Neutral Reference (read my review if you're interested in what I thought of the Neutral Reference) but with greater corporeal presence, and a wee bit less pickiness about which components I put it between. Long story short, my rig sounds more real with the Cardas Golden Reference interconnects in place than any other interconnect I've tried so far. That corporeal presence I mentioned a sentence ago is what this cable's all about, and it's hard for me to describe it any other way, but let me try with this example:
Everyone I talked to who went to HE2002 in New York a couple of years ago who heard the Joseph Audio demonstration was floored -- I know I was. That room won the Best Sound of Show award, as voted on by HE2002 attendees. When Joseph cued up Louis Armstrong playing "St. James Infirmary" to close his demo....I kid you not, it was like Armstrong had been reincarnated and brought into that room as a favor to Jeff Joseph. Jaws dropped. Smiles happened from wall to wall. Armstrong was there, man. A look around, and it didn't surprise me that Cardas Golden Reference was all over that room. Am I saying that the Golden Reference was entirely to thank for that performance? Of course not. I'm just saying that it was part of a system that created magic for everyone that heard it -- a system that put Louis Armstrong in that room with us for a little while. (And, by the way, they won it again at HE2003.)
The Cardas Golden Reference is my current reference interconnect, and I'd personally choose it over the Acoustic Zen Silver Reference (and everything else I've run through this rig so far) based on my experiences. (Note, though, that I haven't heard the Silver Reference II yet.)
Hope this helps.
