Where to go after Cardas? Seeking warm, organic, and rich sounding cable.

I've been using Cardas Quadlink 5C interconnects for a long time now. Occasionally I experiment with others, but I always seem to drift back to the Cardas. A friend of mine asked me for advice as to what to purchase for his system and my first response would be the Quadlink 5C, but I'm curious to know if there are other options out there to accomplish a warm, organic, rich, full-bodied sound/coloration. Any ideas?

 

Used Kubala-Sosna Emotion.

 

Interesting recommendation. I just read a very favorable Positive Feedback review. These are a little pricey, but not out of the question. What else?

 

Further than the Emotion cables? Well because if I understand correctly, they're $2000-4000 per meter and my friend needs 2 meters. I'd like to present a lower cost option as well as these.

 

ps...How are the lower cost Kubala-Sosna cables?

 

Used would be fine, but it might be difficult to find the longer length. What would a used meter pair of Emotions go for? $1000 or so?

 

I agree with Steve, the Cardas seems to be the way to go.

 

My original suggestion was for used not new.
They do come up for prices much more reasonable than new.
The outer covering is susceptible to snagging so they can look ratty
which affects their price dramatically but not their performance.

 

Steve, were you talking about the Cardas? Now I'm confused.

 

I've often looked at Kubala-Sosna used prices and they hold up better than many brands.

 

I'm very interested. I will look for these.

 

Audio Note.

 

Which? I assume there are several models?

 

Emotion comes at a price.

 

So you're saying that you second that Emotion?

 

I'll continue the silliness: Show Some Emotion

 

I am an Audio Note dealer, but I have not tried AN cables in non-AN audio systems yet, so I cannot comment (yet). For general use in any audio system, my all-time favorite for what you are looking for was Cardas Hexlink 5C Golden. I still use them and love them. They must be quite inexpensive now, and they were so VERY popular that all lengths become available on Ebay if you are patient. Watch out for Chinese copies, and don't buy the non Golden model.

As a current fan of everything Audio Note, primarily its ability to sound organic AND detailed, rich AND clean, at the same time, the Cardas Hexlink 5C Golden interconnects represent my first (and most long-lasting) love of these seemingly contradictory sonic characteristics. These qualities together is what I call "magic".

 

Where does the Hexlink 5C Golden fall in the line compared to the Quadlink 5C that I'm already familiar with? How does one spot Chinese copies? I see various cables on ebay claiming to be Hexlink 5C Golden, some with a blue jacket, some with black, and some gold. Which is the real one?

 

Whatever is in your budget my friend. You won't go wrong with AN UK.

 

At the time Quadlink was introduced, the top-of-the line Cardas was Hexlink 5 Golden, followed by Hexlink 5. Then, Hexlink 5C Golden and Hexlink 5C were improved versions of these. Original Hexlink 5 Golden was very dark blue. Hexlink 5C Golden was very dark brown (almost black with a slight brownish/golden shade). Hexlink 5C was black. They all had grey shrink tubing on the connectors that said "terminated by the Silent Terminators" in small red or black print, and should still have this shrink to prove authenticity. The Chinese copies are, for some reason, medium/bright blue, and they have CARDAS in big letters on the shrink instead of Silent Terminators in small letters.

All of these Hexlink cables are from the days when BIGGER cables were always BETTER. So they look like Quadlink on steroids. They sound like that too. They have the warmth you are looking for, but with greater detail and dynamics than Quadlink.

Now, for AN UK cables, I recommend Lexus (aka AN-L or AN-1150), which was their top-of-the-line copper cable (same name for speaker and interconnect, but not exactly the same cable) until recently. It is very high-purity copper, very fine stranded, with every stand individually insulated ("Litz"). The new upgrade is called Isis, and considerably more expensive. Then, above these, are all pure silver, and MUCH more expensive.

 

Is it possible to find/post an image of an example of a Chinese bootleg Cardas cable for reference? Thank you for the detailed, warm, and rich information!