CARDAS Golden Presence

MJ09.02.2009

Speaker cables

The Golden Presence may be a small family treasure for Cardas. Though it is less liquid than the Golden Cross I found it truer to the music. And it has a better price to performance ratio too.

Funkce a forma

95%
Ergonomie
65%
Zvuk
85%
Zpracování

Teflon dielectrics, PU jacket, capacitance 168pF, inductance 0.027uh, no info on the number of wires.

Note: During this review a set of an interconnect and a speaker cable was auditioned. The performance evaluation was put in the context of other Cardas's cables; we encourage you to read their reviews to understand the performance differences.

Nízké frekvence

Váha
70
Výbušnost
68
Artikulace
68

George Cardas claims that resonant behavior of a conductor or a strand is the reason for performance gaps in many cables. Each and every strand in a cable has its own ´sound´ due to microscale vibrations and ringing. Two or more wires of the same mass and tension are supposed to have common mechanical resonating points and share the same note. Two or more wires or bundles of wires, differing in size, each have their own resonant points. When combined, wires find new points of interaction, creating another note.

There is a solution - create a multiple strand conductor, where the individual strands share no common mathematical node or resonant point and layer them to cancel the noise they each create. In so called golden section stranding, derived from divine ratios (Fibonacci sequences), the individual strands are arranged so each strand is coupled to another, whose note or sound is irrational with its own, thus nulling inter-strand resonance.

Cardas cables also employ a unique stranding method where strands diminish in size towards the interior of the conductor. This design is called Constant Q Stranding and it allows each strand of the cable to share the load equally. All George Cardas's cables use OFC copper - actually Cardas Audio is one of the few manufacturers that draw their own conductors from copper rods instead of outsourcing the wires from elsewhere like most competitors do.

Čistota rozlišení

Detail
65
Vzduch
60
Transparentnost
62

If I should use just one sentence to describe the Golden Presence's character, I would say „musical neutrality“. Timbres of acoustic instruments, as heard on a piano for instance, are tonally very good, the soundstage is open, breathing and naturally resolved. It may seem that the Golden Presence is a dynamically modest cable - until you try a really dynamic recording where the GP shines.

Tonální věrnost

Témbr
63
Dynamika
62
Časování
52

I love the sound of a bowed double bass through the Golden Presence - it is textured, warm and round, I can hear both rhe strings and the resonating body. It is a very tangible and real experience. Also drumsticks on a cymbal's body were precisely outlined, with silky shine and beautiful golden decays.The Golden Presence was very authoritative and effortless at the same time, no room left for ambiguity.

Prostorovost

Trojrozměrnost
82
Šířka scény
82
Hloubka scény
85

In our group test of Cardas Audio's cables the Golden Presence (and the Golden Cross) is first to convincingly communicate not only a singer's voice but also his  body. The Golden Presence conjures up very physical images that start to live in a listening room, rather than casting just sound, no matter how perfect. It is all about the emotional and human side of music.

Cena v době recenze:37 600,- Kč

Doporučení prodejci

Excelia HiFi, Chrudim, tel. +420 724 00 77 44

Připojené komponenty

  • Sources: Carat C57, Meridian G08
  • Amplifiers:  Carat A57, Meridian G02, Mark Levinson No. 432
  • Interconnects and speaker cables: Krautwire Fractal, Homegrown Audio DNA, the whole family of Cardas Audio cables
  • Loudspeakers: Focal JMlab Diablo Utopia, Revel Ultima Studio2, Revel M22

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